EAZIHOST VERSION 2 User Manual Copyright (C) 1990/1991, P.M Opacic & SandSoft. All rights reserved. INTRODUCTION EaziHost is a comprehensive, yet easily mastered, Bulletin Board System developed from, and much expanding on, EaziLink's host mode. Those already familiar with EaziLink's host mode will find the move to EaziHost particularly effortless. All comments are welcome and should be posted as public messages on The SandSoft Support Board (Skipton (0756) 791298). Please note that details of BBS based technical support, for REGISTERED USERS, is included with the full registration package. EaziHost has most of the features expected of a BBS and is very simple to set up. Features include ANSI display support, user access levels, user time limits, members only access to selected file or message areas, multiple message bases with bulk message download capability, multiple file areas, news bulletins, doors, user defined colours, menus and help screens, archive viewing facilities and a flexible file up/download mechanism. The 1200/75 split baud rate, still used in Britain, is also supported when speed buffered modems are used. EaziHost should run on all IBM PC/XT/AT machines and close compatibles with 512K+ of RAM (640K recommended for maximum versatility) and fitted with a VGA, EGA, CGA, MDA or HGC video adapter. The program will run on large capacity floppy disk based systems but full use of all features is only practical with a hard disk. The program is supplied with default modem control strings to suit a Miracle WS3000 modem but EaziHost can generally be configured to suit any Hayes compatible modem or one which has a very similar range of capabilities. EaziHost is configured to make use of external file transfer protocol drivers rather than having such drivers built-in. This approach offers maximum flexibility and enables improved drivers to be incorporated as and when they are released. Please remember that these third party protocol drivers, such as the widely available DSZ (tm), are themselves usually Shareware products and should be registered with the copyright holders if you intend to use them with EaziHost. Two computers, one running EaziHost, can also be connected locally by cable. (See the DIRECT CONNECTION section) DISTRIBUTION RESTRICTIONS Evaluation EaziHost is NOT a public domain or free package. Non-registered users of EaziHost are granted a restricted license to use the product for a limited evaluation period, to determine it's suitability for their purpose. Continued use of EaziHost beyond this evaluation period, not exceeding 21 days, requires registration. Package Integrity EaziHost must be distributed in a completely unmodified form, including all the original program, document and support files. Commercial Organisations EaziHost may not be distributed as part of any other product or service by a business, organisation or institution, without entering into a suitable bulk registration agreement with SandSoft. Bulk registrations involve the supply of multiple full registration packages and attract a sliding scale of discounts up to a maximum of 40% - 5+ Copies 10% Discount 25+ Copies 20% Discount 50+ Copies 30% Discount 100+ Copies 40% Discount Where a number of copies of EaziHost are to be used at the same working location, a site license may be purchased. Site licenses involve the supply of one master disk and one printed manual - the reproduction and distribution of copies is the responsibility of the client. Site licenses attract a fixed discount of 50% for all copies after the first for which the full registration fee applies. BBS operators may offer EaziHost for download and Shareware disk vendors may distribute the package freely, provided that no charge is made for the software itself and provided that EaziHost is not supplied as part of a commercial package or service as outlined in the 'Commercial Organisations' section above. Special Arrangements Organisations with special or unusual licensing requirements are invited to contact SandSoft with their proposals. SandSoft will also consider requests for the production of customised versions of this product. REGISTRATION Individual copies of EaziHost may be registered by sending the 35.00 registration fee along with your name and address to: P.M. Opacic, 5 Lytham Close, Skipton, N. Yorks. BD23 2LF The printed manual is supplied only to users who have registered EaziHost and paid the registration fee. If you have registered we would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support. Please DO NOT copy and distribute the printed manual or the registered program disk supplied with it. Important: SandSoft reserves the right to exclude the printed manual for registrations outside Great Britain and the EEC unless sufficient additional postage is included (i.e. enough to cover a 300 gram package). If you wish to pass on copies of EaziHost to other prospective users, please offer them the Shareware version only. Registration entitles you to future upgrades at reduced cost and also to BBS based technical support. A standard registration entitles a user to run EaziHost on ONE computer at a time. If any group or organisation requires multiple copies of EaziHost they may negotiate a bulk registration agreement with SandSoft, or purchase a site licence. (See 'Distribution Restrictions') Using The SandSoft Support Board we will attempt to answer queries, receive bug reports etc. and keep a fully updated copy of EaziHost for registered users to download at all times. Details of any additions or improvements to EaziHost will also be posted on the board. The SandSoft Support Board: Skipton (0756) 791298 Do make use of the support board - It is a service provided for you as a registered user. When you first log onto the support board, leave a message to the author of EaziHost, Michael Opacic, requesting upgrade. Once upgraded you will have access to an additional registered file area. If you have any problems or queries please 'Post' a public message on the support board. We or other EaziHost users will help where possible. THE FULL REGISTRATION PACKAGE REGISTERED users will receive the registered version of EaziHost along with a printed and bound manual. Note: The 35.00 registration fee applies to EaziHost v1.x & v2.x. SandSoft reserves the right to increase the fee for subsequent major version number releases - enquire via the support board, or by voice on (0756) 794046, for the latest version and registration fee. Registered users will receive a number of utility programs designed for use with EaziHost. More utilities are being produced all the time - below is a list of those currently supplied. EAZIEDIT.EXE A fast full screen ASCII text editor using WordStar (tm) compatible commands. A comprehensive editor in which all the usual editing and block manipulation commands are supported. You may install this as your external 'Editor'. EAZIFILE.EXE A file management program which allows files to be tagged and copied, deleted, renamed etc. This may be installed as your external 'Filer'. ANSITYPE.EXE A utility which enables the user to type files containing ANSI escape codes without the need for ANSI.SYS. See how those EaziHost host mode screens will look. EAZICD.EXE A CD ROM interface for EaziHost - extends the total file areas in EaziHost up to a maximum of 99 and handles file transfers from the CD ROM. QUESTION.EXE A simple Questionnaire door program for EaziHost. EHTYPE.EXE A file typer for door type 2 use which honours all EaziHost's '^' special codes and '%' system variables. A number of third party utility programs, designed specifically for use with EaziHost, are already available, or in the process of being written, and will be made available to users via the support board. INSTALLING EAZIHOST The Distribution Files The following files are included in the distribution package: EAZIHOST.EXE The main program EXE file. EAZIHOST.OV1 The main program overlay file. CONFIG.EXE EaziHost's configuration module. EAZIHOST.DOC The main documentation file. ANSIED.EXE EaziHost's full screen ANSI editor. EAZIHOST.PRO External protocol definitions. INSTALL.EXE EaziHost's auto-install program. SETTIMES.EXE Utility to set user time limits. SETTIMES.DOC Documentation for Settimes. ELX.EXE EaziHost's Xmodem protocol. ELX.DOC The Xmodem documentation. *.MNU Default menus displayed to callers. *.HLP Default help files displayed to callers Note: We Strongly recommend that you set up EaziHost in the directories located and named as in this section - the INSTALL program will do so automatically. This will make installation of EaziHost, and other support programs which you might wish to add later, much easier. Automatic Installation If you are installing EaziHost on a hard disk or large capacity floppy disk, you can make basic installation relatively pain free by using the INSTALL.EXE program included with the package. To auto-install EaziHost, follow these steps: 1) Create a new directory called 'EAZIHOST', off the root directory of the disk on which you wish to install EaziHost. 2) Copy all the files supplied with the EaziHost package into the newly created EAZIHOST directory. If the EaziHost files are stored in archives you will need to extract them - make sure you also extract files from any smaller archives within the main one. 3) Whilst in the new EAZIHOST directory execute INSTALL.EXE from the DOS prompt and follow the on-screen instructions. If your modem was included on the INSTALL program's list, you should now be ready to run - otherwise you will need to consult your modem manual and configure EaziHost manually. The INSTALL program can be used at any future time to change the modem type - it will NOT undo any existing configuration settings which are not related to the modem. Manual Installation We have assumed here that the drive on which you wish to install EaziHost is hard disk C. Create a new directory, immediately off your hard disk's root directory, called 'EAZIHOST' - this will be referred to from here on as the 'EaziHost Directory'. Change to the newly created EaziHost Directory and create the following sub-directories: C:\EAZIHOST\HOSTMAIN A general host file path C:\EAZIHOST\HOSTUP The default file upload path C:\EAZIHOST\HOSTDOWN The default file download path C:\EAZIHOST\HOSTMESS The default message base path C:\EAZIHOST\XFER The protocol driver path Note: The three 'default' paths are required by the most basic EaziHost configuration only and may not be used in more complex set-ups - this will be clarified in the appropriate sections later in the manual. Copy EAZIHOST.EXE, EAZIHOST.OV1, CONFIG.EXE, ANSIED.EXE, and EAZIHOST.PRO into the EaziHost Directory. (EAZIHOST). Copy SETTIMES.EXE and all the '.MNU' and '.HLP' files, into the 'Host Main Path' (HOSTMAIN). Copy ELX.EXE and any other external file transfer protocol drivers which you intend to use, e.g. DSZ.COM, into the 'Protocol Path' (XFER). To run EaziHost, simply, ensure you are in the main 'EaziHost Directory' and type EAZIHOST at the DOS prompt. Before you do so however, read the following section on file transfer protocols and edit EAZIHOST.PRO, if necessary, to reflect the protocols which you have installed. If you are happy with the ELX and DSZ range of protocols or you are unsure, at this stage, of how to edit EAZIHOST.PRO then DO NOT modify it - It will work initially as it is supplied. Then you can start up EaziHost. (Note: Run the Configure section from the EaziHost Main Menu before doing anything else.) FILE TRANSFER PROTOCOLS All file transfer protocols used by EaziHost are External. This provides the most flexible method of transferring files since the user can define up to 16 protocols of his/her own choice. Several protocols supported by the popular DSZ protocol driver have been defined in the sample 'EAZIHOST.PRO' file supplied with the package. Since no file transfer protocols are built into EaziHost, it is recommended that you edit the 'EAZIHOST.PRO' file first thing. Add any protocols which you have available to callers. You may find that the ELX and DSZ options supplied are enough to start with - you can add others later of course. All installed protocols are available unless suppressed by use of the semi-colon modifier the effect of which is described later in this section. The file 'EAZIHOST.PRO' can be created by any standard ASCII text editor. Any line starting with a '\', '.' or ';' character is considered to be a comment and is ignored by the program. The General form of a complete protocol definition is as follows: name MenuName hotkey Character upload UploadCommandLine download DownloadCommandLine where: 'MenuName' is the protocols name as it is to appear on the menu. 'Character' is the key to be pressed to select it. (A..Z, 0..9) 'UploadCommandLine' is the full upload command line. 'DownloadCommandLine' is the full download command line. These four lines must be in the order shown and all lines must be present for each protocol defined, or an error message will be generated and EaziHost will abort at start-up. If any of the defined protocols are to be temporarily excluded from those offered to callers, add a semi-colon (;) to the end of 'MenuName' i.e. 'MenuName;'. This will prevent display and use of that protocol. If a protocol supports multiple file names on the command line, as DSZ's Ymodem & Zmodem do, multiple download capability can be specified by adding an asterisk '*' to the end of 'MenuName' i.e. 'MenuName*'. The caller can then specify up to 9 separate files for download in a transfer session. Both the upload and download command lines are the lines you would normally type at the DOS prompt to invoke a file transfer with the selected protocol. These command lines may contain 'system variables' (fully described later) to pass information to the protocol driver. The system variables relevant to file transfers are as follows: %port Is replaced by the current comms port number. %speed Is replaced by the current DTE baud rate. %linespeed Is replaced by the current line baud rate. %file Is replaced by the, user entered, file name/s to be transferred. %path Is replaced by the current path. This is always where EaziHost wants incoming files to be stored and can be used to prevent file path specifications transmitted certain protocols from influencing the incoming file's location on your disk. Note: DSZ does not accept a root path in the form 'A:\', as passed by the %path variable, and DOS's CD command, as valid. It will only accept a path without a trailing '\'. You must use upload and download paths which are not root paths if you intend to use %path in a DSZ protocol definition, within EAZIHOST.PRO. For example If you wish to direct downloads to floppy drive 'A' - make the path 'A:\DOWNLOADS' and %path will direct downloads correctly. If a command line contains the '%file' system variable then the user is prompted to enter the file name/s before file transfer commences, otherwise the file transfer routine will expect the names to be supplied in the header from the remote service as happens in the case of Zmodem. Simpler protocols like Xmodem need the '%file' to be included in both send and receive modes. Example: name Zmodem hotkey Z upload DSZ.COM port %port speed %speed sz %file download DSZ.COM port %port speed %speed rz %path Note: The extension '.COM', '.EXE' or '.BAT' MUST be used with the protocol driver name since EaziHost executes each file type differently. The driver name may contain a path specification, to indicate where the driver will be found. If not, the protocol driver must be in the directory specified in the configuration 'Protocol Path' field. Study the supplied EAZIHOST.PRO file to see how the ELX and DSZ protocols have been defined. Note: EaziHost executes those protocol drivers which appear in EAZIHOST.PRO with a '.COM' or '.EXE' extension, directly as child processes without using the command processor - COMMAND.COM. If the extension is '.BAT' then the command processor is used to execute the protocol driver. Some drivers need to be executed by the command processor and should be set up as batch files which appear in EAZIHOST.PRO with the extension '.BAT'. If an external protocol driver does not work when configured for EaziHost as ELX and DSZ are, try installing it as a batch file. IMPORTANT: Where a file transfer protocol is configured as a batch file - the batch file and the protocol driver itself should both be in the same directory - that which is indicated by the 'Protocol Path' field in the configuration section (XFER). The name of the driver in the batch file itself MUST include the driver's FULL path name. This is necessary because once the batch file has gained control, EaziHost has no way of controlling where the batch file should look for the executable driver itself. Our own Xmodem external protocol, ELX, is supplied with EaziHost to ensure that users have at least one common protocol to offer callers. We recommend that Sysops also install DSZ (tm). ELX and DSZ definitions are included, ready for use, in the supplied EAZIHOST.PRO file. Make sure that you have located ELX.EXE (and DSZ if you have a copy) in the 'Protocol Path' (XFER) directory. Note: ELX is an Xmodem implementation but is installed to use hot key 'E' to avoid conflict with DSZ's Xmodem entry. It is compatible with other Xmodem and Xmodem-1k implementations supported by various communication packages. (See ELX.DOC) MAIN MENU OPTIONS On program start-up, immediately after the initial copyright screen, the Main Menu is displayed. +----------| MAIN MENU |----------+ | | | Host | | Modem | | Editor | | Shell | | Configure | | Utilities | | Quit | | | | | | Enter host mode | +---------------------------------+ The options available are as follows: Host Sets EaziHost in Host Mode - described more fully later. Modem Allows commands to be typed directly to the modem to assist in testing and setting up - This facility is NOT intended for making calls to online services. The communications port, baud rate and handshake used in this mode are taken from the relevant fields in the configuration section so configure EaziHost correctly before using the 'Modem' option. Editor Invokes the editor specified by the user during the configuration procedure. Shell Invokes a DOS shell from which DOS commands and programs can be executed. Type exit at the DOS prompt to return to the program. Configure Enables default settings to be selected and saved to the EAZIHOST.CNF file in the EaziHost Directory. This file will be read when EaziHost is started up in future and the settings it contains will be adopted. When you first run EaziHost, select this option first and work through each installation section carefully. Refer to your modem manual when entering modem control strings. Changes which you make are automatically saved on returning from the configuration section. Utilities Presents the Utilities menu. The on-line Alt U option offers the same set of utilities. The options available are: Command.......Execute a single DOS command. Any command which can be entered at the DOS command line may be executed from here. If you want EaziHost to pause before regaining control, in order to see the resultant output of the command, then add a semi-colon ';' to the end of the command line. Shell.........Run the DOS shell. Repeated on this menu for convenience. Editor........Run the editor defined in the configuration section. Repeated on this menu for convenience. File manager..Run the file management program defined in the configuration 'Optional Utilities' section. File Lister...Run the file listing program defined in the configuration 'Optional Utilities' section. Quit Exit from EaziHost to DOS. The HOST.LOG file is closed where appropriate. CONFIGURING EAZIHOST EaziHost can be configured to suit a users hardware and working environment preferences. Configurable items are presented on a menu: +---| Configuration |---+ | | | Port Number | | Modem Control | | Optional Utilities | | Host Mode | | Colour | | Alarm | | Quit | | | +-----------------------+ Any one or all items may be edited. The configuration section's menus have been designed to allow the user to cursor up or down to any particular field within a configuration block, and thus edit fields selectively. This mechanism rotates around the menu fields - when it reaches the bottom it returns to the top and vice versa. When all changes have been made, press ESC to leave the block. If any item in the block has been changed you are prompted to indicate whether you wish to keep the changes or not. Port Number Select the comms port to be used 1..4. (if in doubt select port 1 if you have an external modem or port 2 in you have an internal card modem) Modem Control EaziHost may be configured to answer calls via the modem's auto- answer capability or operate on a software answering basis where the software itself tells the modem when to answer the call. The software method is safer and generally recommended. NOTE - If Software answering is employed, the modem's auto-answer feature MUST be turned OFF (usually S0=0 on a Hayes compatible modem) Hardware answering The 'Reset' string is sent as the system is put into host mode, followed immediately by the 'Initialise' string. Just before recycle 'Reset' is sent (before RECYCLE.BAT runs). After recycle the 'Reset', 'Initialise' sequence is sent again - and so on. 'Reset' is sent when local mode is entered or host mode is exited. Software answering The 'Reset' string is sent as the system is put into host mode, followed immediately by the 'Initialise' string. 'Reset' and 'initialise' are NOT sent again before each following call nor is 'Reset' sent before recycle commences nor before entering local mode (see below for exceptions to this rule). 'Reset' is sent when host mode is exited. NOTE: The above software answering logic ALWAYS applies with systems running with a fixed DTE. The same logic also holds true for those systems where the DTE is not fixed (i.e. where DTE is dropped back to the caller's line speed) when the caller is actually online at the SAME speed as that set in the Host mode configuration section. HOWEVER, on non-fixed DTE systems, where a caller is online at a lower rate than that set in the configuration section, the modem is re-initialised, after recycle, using the 'Initialise' string to ensure that the modem can pick up the rate at which it should be set, from the 'AT' command in the 'Initialise' string, ready for the next call. For this reason such systems must have at the very least an 'AT' command in the 'Initialise' string. Even if modem memory is being used to set the modem up, the 'Initialise' string should contain at least 'AT|'. The modem is controlled by EaziHost using the entries made in these fields: +----------------| Modem Control Strings |----------------+ | Reset : ATZ ^M | | Initialise : ~~~~+++~~~~AT X1 V1 S0=1 S24=5 ^M | | Hang-up : ~~~~+++~~~~AT H0 ^M | | Answer Mode : Hardware | | Answer Call : ATA^M | | Ring Message : RING | | Ring Count : 2 | | Connect Time : 40 | | Command OK : OK | | Connect 300 : CONNECT^M | | Connect 1200 : CONNECT 1200 | | Connect 1275 : CONNECT 1275 | | Connect 7512 : CONNECT 7512 | | Connect 2400 : CONNECT 2400 | | Connect 4800 : | | Connect 7200 : | | Connect 9600 : | | Connect 12000: | | Connect 14400: | | Connect 19200: | | Connect 38400: | +---------------------------------------------------------+ Note: The following characters have special effects in modem control strings: | RETURN ^ The following character is treated as a control character if it is in the range '@'..'[' (0..27) otherwise the following character is sent as is. e.g. ^M^J sends a carriage return followed by a line feed, ^| sends a the '|' character (not RETURN as usual), ^^ sends the '^' character itself. ~ Causes a half second delay. The default strings in EaziHost are suitable for the Miracle V22 WS3000 modem. The default modem control strings are as follows: Reset.........ATZ| Resets the modem back to it's factory settings (don't forget the '|' carriage return symbol). Initialise.....~~~~+++~~~~AT X1 V1 S0=1 S23=1 S24=5 | This is the modem control string required to initialise the modem and will be different depending on whether hardware or software answering is to be employed. The example above shows strings suitable for use with hardware answering. The string should also ensure that baud rate scanning is activated, if available. The various elements in the default string above, have the following effect. '~~~~+++~~~~' forces the modem into command mode, 'AT' Hayes attention command, 'X1' use extended result calls - enables callers baud rate to be returned in the form 'CONNECT 1200' etc.,'S0=1' answer incoming calls after 1 ring, 'S24=5' WS3000 modem specific - scans the baud rates in 5 second steps to determine the callers baud rate. Hang-up.......~~~~+++~~~~AT H0 | The string required to hang-up the modem. The first '~~~~' pauses for 2 seconds, '+++' forces the modem into command mode, '~~~~' another 2 second delay, 'AT' the Hayes attention command, 'H0'the hang-up command, '|' the terminating carriage return. Answer Mode......Hardware Used to indicate whether Hardware or Software answering is to be used. Answer Call......ATA | Used to force the modem to answer a call - Software answering only. Ring Message......RING The string returned by your modem when it detects a ring on the line (Default: RING). Make sure your modem does return RING - At least one modem returned just 'NG'! To check, put your system in Modem mode and get someone to call your number and make sure you are getting the RING string from the modem - Software answering only. Ring Count.....2 This is the ring count after which the software is to answer the call. (Default: 2) - Software answering only Connect Time.....40 This is the maximum time, in seconds, for which EaziHost waits for a connection after the call has been answered. Make sure this is long enough to allow for a connection at all speeds which your modem supports and all possible error correction negotiation possibilities where applicable. Do not make this period too long because no other calls can be answered within this time. As a good guide to the time required for your modem - Go into Modem mode and type ATA followed by RETURN and time how long it takes for your modem to give up trying for a connection. Make 'Connect Time' one step higher than this. (Default: 40) - Software answering only. Command OK....OK The string returned by the modem if a command is understood and executed correctly. This is usually 'OK'. Connect 300....CONNECT^M Connect 1200...CONNECT 1200 etc... These are the strings returned by the modem when it makes a successful connection at each baud rate. Each baud rate which your modem supports MUST be filled in - any which it does not support may be left blank. Note:It is important that your modem raises DCD immediately a connection is established. If the 7200, 12000 or 14400 rates are supported by your modem you MUST operate your modem and EaziHost in fixed DTE mode (particularly where 12000 is concerned). Note: '^M' or '|' may be used in a connect string to represent a carriage return. This is important where a modem returns a simple 'CONNECT' string for a 300 baud connection. The '^M' must be added to prevent 'CONNECT' from being confused with the 'CONNECT' part of the longer connect strings issued for other baud rates. Optional Utilities External programs may be installed for use from within EaziHost by filling in the following fields: Editor Path EaziHost allows you to name an editor of your choice, to be invoked from the main menu and also using the Alt E command whilst on-line. Enter the full path and name of the editor here. Note: You MUST include the file name extension. Filer Path EaziHost allows you to name a file management program of your choice, to be invoked from the Utilities menu and also by using the Alt U command whilst on-line. Enter the full path and name of the program here. Note: You MUST include the file name extension. Lister Path The file listing program of your choice may be specified here. The program can be invoked from the Utilities menu and also by using the Alt U command whilst on-line. Enter the full path and name of the program here. Note: You MUST include the file name extension. Note: In the case of the Editor, Filer and Lister the '%file' system variable and the trailing semi-colon (;) are supported. If the '%file' variable is appended to the full program path name, separated from it by a space character, a file name is requested from the user to be passed as a parameter to the external program. If [ENTER] is pressed without any input, the external program is invoked and no filename parameter is passed. If [ESC] is pressed then a file window is opened for the user to interactively select a file. If [ESC] is pressed at this stage then the command is aborted. If semi-colon is appended to the full program path name including any optional '%file' variable, then the external program will pause on termination until a key is pressed - rather like the Utility menu's Command option. Example: C:\EAZIEDIT.EXE %FILE Here a file name would be prompted for and passed to EAZIEDIT. Host Mode EaziHost's environment and mode of operation is controlled by the following fields: +------------------------| Host Mode |------------------------+ | Board Identity : SAND | | Host Main Path : C:\EAZIHOST\HOSTMAIN | | Host Message Path : C:\EAZIHOST\HOSTMESS | | Host Download Path : C:\EAZIHOST\HOSTDOWN | | Host Upload Path : C:\EAZIHOST\HOSTUP | | Protocol Path : C:\EAZIHOST\XFER | | Sysop's Name : SYSOP NAME | | Sysop Password : SYSOP PASS | | Log Host Calls : Yes | | Default Chat ON : Yes | | Open System : Yes | | Speed Scanning : Yes | | Baud Rate : 1200 | | Fix DTE Rate : No | +-------------------------------------------------------------+ Board Identity A field of up to 6 characters chosen by the Sysop to enable mailbags to be identified as being from his own particular EaziHost board. Be sure to use only characters valid in DOS file names. (NOTE the points made below) IMPORTANT - This field must be left blank to enable David Foster's original offline mailer to be used with the board. Fill in this field only if you require callers to use David's new mailer written specifically for EaziHost v2.x. When this field is left blank the mailbag is called MAILBAG.MSG as in previous versions of EaziHost. If the new mailer is in use and this field is filled in, it changes the name of the mailbag file thus enabling the sysop to give mailbags from/to his board a unique name. This helps callers to avoid mix-ups when he/she uses mailbags from several EaziHost boards. Suppose, for example, you chose the identity 'SAND', then the mailbag into which a caller's messages, bulletins etc. would be collected would be called 'SAND-D.MSG' rather than 'MAILBAG.MSG'. The '-D' is added by EaziHost to identify the mailbag as a download mailbag in order to differentiate it from an upload, or reply, mailbag which would be called 'SAND-U.MSG' or .ZIP etc. All other operations on the mailbag would be performed on the newly defined 'SAND-D.MSG' rather than the now redundant 'MAILBAG.MSG'. NOTE: Remember to change the name in your 'BATCH.BAT' file from mailbag to your board's new mailbag name, or mailbag compression will not work. When a caller attempts to upload a reply mailbag under the new system, he is given the name of the mailbag and only asked to add the file name extension thus: Add file extension: SAND-U. This helps to ensure that callers don't make mistakes in naming upload mailbags. Host Main Path This is the main Host path where EaziHost system files, logos etc. are stored. Host Message Path This is where the files containing the text of messages are stored. (Default used for single message area set-up) Host Download Path This is where you should put files which you wish to make available to callers if you do not intend to make use of multiple download areas. (Default used for single file area set-up) Host Upload Path This is where files uploaded by callers will be stored. Unless overridden as described later. Protocol Path This is where EaziHost looks for the external file transfer protocol drivers. This path may be overridden by full path name entries in the EAZIHOST.PRO protocol definition file, but there is no real advantage in doing so. The default is the main EaziHost directory. Sysop's Name The Sysop must enter his/her name here. First and last name only - exactly as you will enter your name when logging onto EaziHost. Any messages from users addressed to the 'Sysop' and log-off messages will then be directed to you. Sysop Password This is a special password which gives full access to the host mode and also gives the remote caller access to the DOS shell on your machine - BE VERY CAREFUL who you give this password to. Log Host Calls This setting determines whether incoming calls are to be logged in HOST.LOG. HOST.LOG is created automatically in the main EaziHost directory. If turned on, the log file will record details of each callers online session. Information includes the name of the caller, the date and time when the connection was made, uploads, downloads and duration of the call. If the configuration is saved with this option turned on, then EaziHost will automatically open the log at start-up and close it at program termination. If HOST.LOG already exists, information is appended to previous log entries. Example log entries: * Host Log Opened: Tuesday January 23, 1990 1:49 p.m. | JOHN SMITH | 2400 BAUD | Download | [Z] TEST.ZIP | Upload | [Z] FILE.ZIP

| Elapsed Time | 00:23:06 - GOODBYE * Log Closed Note: The letter on square brackets, [Z], indicates the protocol used, the

indicates that the upload was made to the private directory, GOODBYE indicates a normal log-off - NO CARRIER would indicate a dropped line. Open System If this is set to 'YES' then any caller will be given access to EaziHost provided they complete the log-on sequence correctly. Otherwise only callers previously logged by the system operator (Sysop) will be given access. Speed Scanning If your modem supports speed scanning in auto-answer mode and you have initialised your modem, in the 'Auto Answer' string, to use it then this should be set to 'YES'. If callers are to contact EaziHost at a single set speed then set this option to 'NO' and set the selected baud rate in the field described below. EaziHost will then assume a connection is established when a carrier signal is detected rather than upon receipt of a connect string from the modem. Baud Rate This is the baud rate to which the comms port will be set each time EaziHost resets itself ready for a caller. This setting may be relevant whether you are are speed scanning or not. If you are speed scanning this will usually need to be the highest baud rate which your modem supports. Check your modem manual to see which baud rate to set here. Fix DTE Rate Some modems can be set to fix the computer port rate and handle speed buffering between the actual line baud rate and the fixed port rate. If you have such a modem and have included the command in the Init string to hold the DTE (computer port) speed then you must set this configuration field to 'Yes' to prevent EaziHost from resetting the port rate - otherwise leave this field set to 'No'. Note: This setting determines whether EaziHost uses CTS handshaking with the local modem. (see General Overview later). Colour Set the general display colour, window contents colour and window frame colour by selection from the displayed foreground and background colours. Each are set in turn as indicated by the prompt above the sample window. The menu border style can also be changed using the 'Y' and 'Z' options. Alarm The rather strident alarm which is sounded when incoming calls are connected can be disables using this option. The bell which accompanies error messages is not affected. Quit Return to the main EaziHost menu. SYSTEM VARIABLES Certain system variables, starting with a '%' character are supported within EaziHost. These variables may be used in file transfer definitions or host menus and display files and are replaced as follows: %Port Replaced by the current comms port number. %Parity Replaced by the current parity, represented by a single upper case character 'N' (none), 'O' (odd), 'E' (even). %Speed DTE baud rate. (or 'LOCAL' if log-in is local & not used in a file transfer) %LineSpeed Line baud rate. (or 'LOCAL' if log-in is local & not used in a file transfer) %Cts A single upper case letter indicating whether CTS handshaking is being used between DTE and modem - 'Y'es or 'N'o. %Ansi A single upper case letter indicating whether ANSI displays are in operation - 'Y' yes or 'N' no. %HotKey A single upper case letter indicating whether the Hot-key option is in operation - 'Y' yes, or 'N' no. %Expert A single upper case letter indicating whether the short expert menus are in operation - 'Y' yes, or 'N' no. %First Current caller's first name. %Last Current caller's last name. %Password Current caller's password. %Ver Replaced by the software ID and version number in the form 'EH20' %Reg Replaced by 'Y' if EaziHost is registered - Otherwise 'N'. %Id Replaced by the board identity set in the configuration section's 'Board Identity' field. %Level Replaced by a single digit (0..9) representing the current callers validation level. %NewUser Replaced by 'Y' if the caller is a new user, Otherwise 'N'. %Sysop Replaced by the letter 'Y' if the current caller used the Sysop's password to log-on. Otherwise 'N'. %TimeLeft Replaced by the online time left for the current caller, in minutes, or by the string 'UNLIMITED' If the caller has no limit. %DateLastOn Date the caller was last on the board in the form 'dd-mm-yy' - e.g. 09-08-89. %TimeLastOn Time the caller was last on the board in the form 'hh:mm' (24 hour clock) - e.g. 20:16 %Arc The name of an archive file (used in VIEWS.HST). %Path Replaced by the current path. This can be useful in file transfer definitions within EAZIHOST.PRO. EaziHost always logs onto the file path where it wants incoming files to be stored immediately prior to starting the file transfer. %File The name of a text file within an archive (used in VIEWS.HST) or to represent a file to be up/downloaded, edited etc. %MessAreaNumber Replaced by the current message area number. %MessAreaTitle Replaced by the current message area title. %MessAreaPath Replaced by the current message area path. If no 'MESSAGES.HST' exists it is replaced by nothing. %MessageCount Number of messages in the current message base. %MessAreaUpdate Replaced by 'Y' if the MESSAGES.HST file area list has been updated since the user's last call - Otherwise replaced by 'N'. (Returns 'N' if no MESSAGES.HST is defined) %AreaPath Replaced by the current download path. If no 'FILES.HST' exists it is replaced by nothing. AreaNumber Replaced by the number of the current file download area. %AreaTitle Title of the current file download area. %SysopName Replaced by the Sysop'd name as defined in the configuration. %Home, %Hostup, %Xfer Replaced by the EaziHost base directory (where EAZIHOST.EXE is located), the 'Upload Path' and 'Protocol Path', repectively. SYSTEM.HST Whenever EaziHost shells out, for example to run a door program, a file called 'SYSTEM.HST' is automatically created in the 'Host Main Path'. This file may be used by door writers who wish to obtain information about the current caller or the state of the board at the moment of shell-out. SYSTEM.HST is created or updated by EaziHost each time a caller logs in. It is automatically updated whenever appropriate. SYSTEM.HST contains all the information which can be obtained via the '%' system variables, and is provided as an alternative way for door programs to obtain information about the current caller. For example, EAZICD gets it's information from this file. The 'SYSTEM.HST' file is always created in the 'Host Main Path' and has the following format and typical contents. VER EH20 REG Y ID SAND LINESPEED 2400 SPEED 9600 PORT 1 PARITY N CTS N SYSOP N ANSI Y HOTKEY N EXPERT N LEVEL 5 NEWUSER N FIRST John LAST Smith PASSWORD WARLORD TIMELEFT 65 DATELASTON 21-12-89 TIMELASTON 16:12 ARC FILE PATH C:\EAZIHOST\SHARE MESSAREAPATH C:\EAZIHOST\GENMESS MESSAREANUMBER 1 MESSAREATITLE ^C33General Messages - Public access.^C0 MESSAGECOUNT 94 MESSAREAUPDATE N AREAPATH C:\EAZIHOST\SHARE AREANUMBER 1 AREATITLE ^C33Shareware files - Public access.^C0 SYSOPNAME MICHAEL OPACIC HOME C:\EAZIHOST HOSTUP C:\EAZIHOST\HOSTUP XFER C:\EAZIHOST\XFER Note that each line consists of an upper case system variable name without the '%' prefix, followed by a space and then the current value. Some values may be blank if no values have been assigned to them - for example MESSAREATITLE would be blank if no 'MESSAGES.HST' file was defined. If you write doors which refer to SYSTEM.HST for information DO NOT rely on the order of the lines remaining the same between EaziHost versions - always check the first field to identify the variable first and then the second field for it's content. Please note that SYSTEM.HST remains intact until another caller successfully logs on. A program invoked by RECYCLE.BAT could pick up details of the last caller from SYSTEM.HST if required. Note: RECYCLE.BAT is only run on termination of a SUCCESSFUL log- on. Note: DSZ does not accept a root path in the form 'A:\', as passed by the %path variable, and DOS's CD command, as valid. It will only accept a path without a trailing '\'. You must use upload and download paths which are not root paths if you intend to use %path in a DSZ protocol definition, within EAZIHOST.PRO. For example If you wish to direct downloads to floppy drive 'A' - make the path 'A:\DOWNLOADS' and %path will direct downloads correctly. Note: %Speed and %LineSpeed can return different values if a fixed DTE is being used with a speed buffered modem. To return correct line speed the CONNECT messages must be correct in the configuration section and 'Speed Scanning' MUST be set to 'Y'es. Protocol main baud rates must be passed via the %Speed variable. If a protocol allows an additional 'actual line speed' baud rate to be passed to it for use in estimating file transfer times. %LineSpeed can be used for that purpose on fixed DTE systems. A GENERAL OVERVIEW EaziHost provides powerful BBS facilities. Callers can log-on by entering their name and password. Users can elect to use simple TELETYPE or full colour ANSI-BBS terminal emulation. Users calling the host mode must do so with their communications package set for 8 DATA BITS, NO PARITY, 1 STOP BIT (8-N-1) and Xon/Xoff handshaking. Baud rate may be any rate which the host modem can scan for and detect. EaziHost expects extended reply strings like 'CONNECT 1200' to be returned by the modem when a connection is made. EaziHost also requires the carrier detect pin to be raised when a carrier signal is detected. IMPORTANT: EaziHost itself ALWAYS uses Xon/Xoff software handshaking downline with the caller. If the 'Fix DTE Rate' field of the configuration section is set to 'Yes', CTS hardware handshaking is also used between DTE and the modem. If you are using a modem which uses a fixed DTE baud rate and speed buffers down to a caller's line speed, you MUST set your modem up to use CTS handshaking with the DTE - raising CTS when the modem is ready to accept more data from the DTE and lowering it when the modem's buffer is full. This ensures that such speed buffered modems do not suffer buffer overflow and lose data. With all modems you must set them up to allow Xon/Xoff flow control characters to pass through the modem freely without being acted upon by the modem - Xon/Xoff handshaking between modem and DTE must be turned OFF. With simpler modems, where 'Fix DTE Rate' is set to 'No', EaziHost uses Xon/Xoff handshaking directly between the two sites in the normal way and CTS plays no part. If the carrier signal is lost during communication, provided that the remote user is not currently in the host machines DOS shell or a type 2 door which has not been written to recover under control, EaziHost will automatically recycle and wait for the next call. EaziHost has it's own carrier watch built-in. If the remote caller is in a door without it's own carrier monitoring, or has used the Sysop password to enter the DOS shell and the carrier is lost, EaziHost will recover by carrying out a soft re- boot. To force EaziHost to go back on-line in host mode after a carrier loss re-boot either use 'EAZIHOST /H' in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file on your hard disk or put a specially prepared system disk in drive A: with the required AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files etc. on it. No external carrier watch program is needed if you set up the system as directed. EaziHost should be able to recover in all carrier loss situations. The host mode incorporates multiple message bases, doors, news bulletins, archive viewing, multiple file areas with file upload/download facilities and an on-line chat feature. Messages can be posted to any other user on the system or to all users, They may be marked private if desired, in which case only the named recipient and the original sender may read them. When a user logs on, he is informed of the presence of any new messages addressed to him, which he has not yet read. Where such messages exist the user is given the option of reading them immediately. A caller may elect to collect new messages from one or all message areas and bulk download them for reading off-line. Please note that the 'Host Download Path' and 'Host Message Path' are made redundant if you elect to set up multiple file or message areas. Please note that some protocols which allow paths to be specified during uploading can be dangerous. For example if a user uploaded a file called 'C:\CONFIG.SYS' it could over- write your config file even though you have set up a separate 'Host Upload Path'. A system variable '%path' has been introduced to help in some such cases. The '%path' variable is replaced by the current path. In EaziHost the receiving path is made current immediately prior to file transfer. The '%path' variable can thus be used to good effect to override incoming path specifications. EaziHost uses the computers time and date system to date stamp messages and keep track of a callers last time on. Always make sure the time and date are set correctly before using EaziHost. IMPORTANT: The remote use of the host shell and doors type 2 rely on DOS I/O redirection for their operation. These mechanisms will therefore only work with communication ports supported by DOS itself - i.e. generally ports 1 and 2. If you configure EaziHost to work on port 3 or 4 it will function fully in all other respects. System Errors Any system errors generated by EaziHost, i.e. those preceded by the words 'SYSTEM ERROR' are automatically logged in a file called SYSTEM.ERR in the 'Host Main Path' directory. This makes it easier for the Sysop to track down errors which have occurred in his absence. The general form of entries in in SYSTEM.ERR is as follows: EAZIHOST 23-01-90 Failed to create PCBOARD.SYS! EAZIHOST 24-01-90 C:\EAZIHOST\GENMESS\134.MSG - Not found! PROGRAM FILES In addition to the files supplied in the distribution package, the following files are either generated by EaziHost or may be optionally created by the Sysop for various purposes: HOST.LOG Host caller log file (Generated by program) USER.HST The user list file. (Generated by program) LOGO.HST Host opening logo. (Generated by user) NOTICE.HST Special notice screen. (Generated by user) LOGOFF.HST Special log-off screen. (Generated by user) NEWUSER.HST Special New User text. (Generated by user) WELCOME.TXT Teletype welcome screen. (Generated by user) WELCOME.ANS ANSI welcome screen. (Generated by user) FILELOGO.TXT Teletype file area logo. (Generated by user) FILELOGO.ANS ANSI file area logo. (Generated by user) MESSLOGO.TXT Teletype message area logo. (Generated by user) MESSLOGO.ANS ANSI message area logo. (Generated by user) XXXXXXXX.XXX File descriptions. (Generated by user) MESSAGE.IDX Message base index files. (Generated by program) n.MSG Message texts (n = number) (Generated by program) RECYCLE.BAT File to be run on recycle. (Generated by user) BATCH.BAT Compresses the mailbag. (Generated by user) COLOUR.HST Colour translation table. (Generated by user) TIMES.HST Caller time limits. (Generated by user) MAILBAG.MSG Message mailbag. (Generated by program) FILES.HST File area definitions. (Generated by user) MESSAGES.HST Message area definitions. (Generated by user) DOORS.HST Main Door definitions. (Generated by user) ENTRY1.HST First entry door. (Generated by user) ENTRY2.HST Second entry door. (Generated by user) EXIT1.HST First exit door. (Generated by user) EXIT2.HST Second exit door. (Generated by user) FILE.UTL File area 'X'tra doors. (Generated by user) MESSAGE.UTL Message area 'X'tra doors. (Generated by user) SYSTEM.HST Current system details. (Generated by program) LOCAL.EDT Optional Local editor. (Generated by user) Please note that all files marked (Generated by user) are optional and need not exist for the EaziHost to function. Where the user chooses to create these files they must be in the 'Host Main Path' directory. The 'MESSAGE.IDX' files and 'n.MSG' files are automatically created in the appropriate message area's directory and are maintained directly by EaziHost. The HOST.LOG file, if activated, is created and updated in the main EaziHost directory (NOT the 'Host Main Path'). If RECYCLE.BAT exists in the 'Host Main Path' it is run each time EaziHost recycles ready for the next call. The '.MNU' and '.HLP' files supplied with EaziHost must be located in the 'Host Main Path' - they are the menus and help screens displayed to callers. The ANSI Editor The file ANSIED.EXE is EaziHost's full-screen ANSI editor. Callers who's comms package supports ANSI may choose this editor rather than the basic line editor, for posting or replying to messages. Editors are selected on a callers first log-on and, at any other time, via the (F)ullEditor option on the (O)ptions menu as described later. Callers may choose from three levels of ANSI emulation to suit their communication program's capabilities. They range from a full ANSI editor which requires a high degree of ANSI emulation, down to a simple but slower version which requires only a PC ANSI.SYS level of emulation. The intermediate level was introduced to cope with certain idiosyncrasies of Procomm Plus (tm). For maximum compatibility, a WordStar style set of control keys are supported to facilitate movement within the editor - more capable packages will also support the following IBM keys: Cursor Left, Right, Up, Down, HOME (Start of line), END (End of line), TAB, BACKSPACE & DEL. To save on completion, or abort the message press '^KD' and indicate the appropriate action. The editor word-wraps during text entry. If text is inserted into a line, the text will not be allowed to move to the right beyond the 75 character limit. Two adjacent lines can be wrap-joined together, where possible, by placing the cursor on the first character of the second line and pressing Backspace or by placing the cursor after the last character on the first line and pressing Del. As many full words as possible from the start of the second line, will be appended to the end of the first. Although packages like EaziLink and Telix will drive the High level ANSI version of the editor perfectly, not all packages with ANSI capability will do so. Callers will have to experiment to find the most suitable version for them. Since they can respond to a large number of movement control characters, full-screen editors are particularly susceptible to line noise which can really mess things up. If a caller has consistently poor lines he would be best advised to revert to the simpler line editor. A number of 'Refresh' commands are provided to enable a caller to clean up the display if line noise has messed things up. The caller can thus see what text the editor actually contains rather than what it appears to contain ('^' represents the CTRL key). ^W Refreshes the whole screen. ^T Refreshes all text in the editing window. ^L Refreshes text on the current line only. ANSIED.EXE, like CONFIG.EXE, should be considered to be an integral part of EaziHost and must be present in the main EaziHost directory where EAZIHOST.EXE is located. SPECIAL CODES In some cases two separate files with the same name but different extensions, '.ANS' and '.TXT', need to be created if you want both ANSI and TELETYPE users to receive an appropriate screen display. Where this is so, it is mentioned in the 'SETTING UP EAZIHOST' section. The special codes described below may be used in the '.TXT' variant of such files but must NOT be used in true '.ANS' files. With the exception of 'LOGO.HST' the text files with the extensions '.TXT' or '.HST' may contain system variables, described in the 'SYSTEM VARIABLES' section, and special codes, prefixed with the '^' symbol, to add colour and other special effects. Since these codes play a major part in the appearance of the host mode they will be described in detail before we discuss the setting up of the host mode proper. Such variables and codes must NOT be used in LOGO.HST because it is shown before the caller actually logs-on and no caller details are known at that point. Special codes are prefixed by the '^' symbol. Here are the non- colour related codes: ^^ DISPLAY THE ^ CHARACTER ITSELF ^G RING BELL ^I TAB ^M RETURN ^J LINE-FEED ^L CLEAR-SCREEN ^H BACKSPACE-DELETE ^P Pause for [RETURN] to be pressed. ^Z A special code used only in menus - described in the 'SETTING UP HOST MODE' section later. ^A All following text in the same line is sent only to ANSI users - another ^A will cancel. ^T All following text in the same line is sent only to TTY users - another ^T will cancel. ^Dnn This command introduces a delay between characters of 'nn' 1/100ths of a second for all following characters in the same line of text. A ^D0, or the line end, cancels the delay. The range for 'nn' is 0..99. In the case of '^A', '^T' and '^Dnn', the switch only affects the current line of text - it is automatically cancelled at the end of the line. Examples: "Hello %first, I see you have ^T not^T chosen to receive ANSI colour screens etc..." Only TTY users would see the 'not' in the above text. "Hello %first, ^D10The EaziHost^D15^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^D10EAZIHOST BBS..." The above text would be slowly displayed as if being typed live. After 'EaziHost' is displayed the speed drops even more as the word is deleted and replaced with 'EAZIHOST' in capital letters. The '^P' code should be read as 'wait for return to be pressed' note that it is left up to the Sysop to ensure that a suitable message is embedded in the text. For example if the following line is the first line of one of the .MNU files: ^C36Press:^C1^C33 [RETURN]...^C0^P^L (menu text here...) The message 'Press: [RETURN]...' will be displayed and the '^P' will wait for RETURN to be pressed. The '^L' clears the screen before the menu itself is displayed. If you wish to remove the prompt rather than clear the screen you can use '^H' control codes to delete each character of the prompt like this: ^C36Press:^C1^C33 [RETURN]...^C0^P^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H Note that a '^H' is required only for each character which is actually displayed - not for the control sequence characters like '^C36'. The '^P' control code is particularly useful where deep menus have been created by the Sysop. It can be used to ensure that information on the screen is not scrolled off the top by a deep menu, before the caller has had time to read it. The special codes used to generate colours are in the form '^Cnn'. These codes are ignored by the TELETYPE driver thus they can be used freely in any text which is to be shown to ANSI and TELETYPE users alike. The sequence '^Cnn' turns the ANSI colour or effect 'nn' on. The 'nn' is a one or two digit standard ANSI number required for the chosen colour or effect as listed below: ANSI values 0 Normal default 1 High intensity 5 Blink on 7 Reverse video 8 Concealed 30 Black foreground 31 Red foreground 32 Green foreground 33 Yellow foreground 34 Blue foreground 35 Magenta foreground 36 Cyan foreground 37 White foreground 40 Black background 41 Red background 42 Green background 43 Yellow background 44 Blue background 45 Magenta background 46 Cyan background 47 White background For example, a 'XXXXXXXX.XXX' file description line: ^C1^C33EAZIHOST.ZIP^C35 A new British BBS package.^C0 would display the file name in high intensity yellow and the description in high intensity cyan. The ^C0 at the end sets colour back to default - don't leave it out! The above line would appear coloured to ANSI users and normal monochrome to TELETYPE users. Note: If a special code sequence requires only a single digit value and the next proper text character is a digit - e.g. '^C180386 chip details.', pre-fix the special code value with a '0' to make it two digits long - thus making it '^C0180386 chip details.' instead. This will prevent the system from associating the text digit, 8 in the above example, with the special code. SETTING UP EAZIHOST EaziHost can be set up to be as simple or as complex as the Sysop wishes - many of the features are optional. In it's simplest form, EaziHost offers just one download file area and one message area - i.e. the directories specified in the configuration's host mode section. News bulletins, doors, file viewing facilities, mailbag archiving, recycle operations etc. need not be defined. Members Only! If multiple download or message areas are to be offered, in addition to the basic access level restrictions, 'Members Only' status may be assigned to any area in FILES.HST or MESSAGES.HST. This membership scheme works as follows: If a file area or message area is to have access to it restricted to a specific list of callers, the Sysop may create such a list in the 'Host Main Path' directory. Any number of such lists may be created and linked with any file or message area. The list of area 'members' takes the form of a simple text file with the first and last name of each member on each line. For example you might create a membership list called 'TOPUSER.LST' thus: JOHN SMITH JOE SOAP FRED BLOGGS If this membership list is associated with a file download area or message area, only those users listed will have access to that area. Membership lists are associated with particular message and file areas via a 'MEMBER_LIST' field in FILES.HST and MESSAGES.HST described later. The MEMBER_LIST field may be left empty, in which case all users will be considered members and will have access to the area provided that their access level is high enough. If a MEMBER_LIST entry is included it must be in the form of a short file name and extension. No drive or path elements are allowed. Remember that the membership list itself must be located in the 'Host Main Path'. Even if the MEMBER_LIST field is left empty, the semi-colon must be included. If a user is not a file or message area member he will not be able to see or download any of the files or read or send any messages. If membership of an area is open a caller's access to an area is restricted by access level, in the normal way. Note: The first two fields only in a membership list are checked for a match with a users name. Door writers should note that other fields may be added, separated from each other by a space for use by doors written to look for the extra fields. For example a list like this may be created: JOHN SMITH JOE SOAP SS FRED BLOGGS Where the 'SS' after JOE SOAP may perhaps signify Sub-Sysop status to a special door program written to enable members to be added or deleted from a membership list by a selected user (JOE SOAP in this case). The 'SS' field does not interfere with EaziHost's ability to match the name on the list. Note: IF a membership list is used to control access to a file or message area, it generally makes most sense to give that area an access level of 0 to ensure that a member of the area is not denied access because their validation level is too low. The Optional Features If a full featured host mode is required the following facilities may be made available to callers: News Bulletins Up to 16 news items may be defined in a file called NEWS.HST. This file must be in the 'Host Main Path' directory as must each news text file. Each news item entry in NEWS.HST must consist of a single line of the following form: FILENAME.EXT; TITLE; l Where FILENAME can be any name and EXT any extension. If EXT is not included then .NWS is assumed. Note: Path names must NOT be included. The TITLE is the news item's title to appear on-screen. TITLE can be up to 60 characters long and may contain '^' special codes as may the news bulletin itself. The 'l' represents a single character - either 'Y' or 'N'. This should be set to 'Y' if special '^' codes or '%...' system variables have been used in the text of the news item - otherwise enter 'N' to indicate a standard ascii file. The 'N' switch option has been provided to enable the Sysop to get an ascii file from any source and offer it as a news bulletin without having to check that no '^' characters exist in the file, which would otherwise be interpreted by EaziHost as special control codes. Example NEWS.HST file: HISTORY.NWS; ^C32Full EaziHost release history.^C0;Y LATEST.NWS; ^C32Latest EaziHost V2.2.^C0;Y The titles would be displayed in green (^C32). The news files HISTORY.NWS and LATEST.NWS must be in the 'Host Main Path' directory. These text files may also contain '^ ' special codes and system variables (use the 'Y' switch), or may be plain ascii files (use the 'N' switch). The two ';' field separators must be present - one or more spaces may be located before or after them if desired. Note: NEWS.HST may be edited from within host mode itself but you MUST drop back into EaziHost's main menu and enter host mode again before any changes will take effect. Multiple Download Areas Up to 64 separate download file areas can be defined in a file called FILES.HST. This file must be located in the 'Host Main Path' directory. If it does not exist then the 'Host Down Path' in the configuration section will be the download path made available. The FILES.HST file is a normal ASCII file in which each line represents a separate download directory - the form of each entry is as follows: FULL_PATH_NAME; n; TITLE; MEMBER_LIST; LOGO; l Where 'FULL_PATH_NAME' is the directory where the group of files is to be found, 'n' is the access level required to download from the directory and 'TITLE' is a file area description of up to 60 characters, to be displayed to callers - the '^' control codes may be used in 'TITLE'. 'MEMBER_LIST' is an optional membership list used to control a callers access to an area - see the earlier section entitled 'Members Only!' for full details. 'LOGO' is the optional name of a logo file to be displayed on entry to that particular file area. The 'LOGO' field may be left empty if no logo is required BUT the third field separator MUST be present. Please note that the 'LOGO' field must be a simple file name only (up to 8 characters Max.) without an extension. EaziHost adds the extension .ANS or .TXT as appropriate - the Sysop may create two files for ANSI and TELETYPE users. The logo files must be located in the 'Host Main Path' directory. The 'l' field is a single letter - either 'Y' or 'N'. This indicates whether the logo is to be displayed every time a caller enters that particular download area. If set to 'N' the logo will only be displayed the first time a caller enters that file area in any one on-line connection. As in the case of the 'LOGO' field, the 'l' field may be left empty but the fourth ';' must be present. If 'l' is empty but 'LOGO' is not, then a default 'l' of 'N' is assumed. Example FILES.HST file: C:\EAZIHOST\SHARE; 0; General Shareware.; ; GENLOGO; Y C:\EAZIHOST\REG; 5; Registered users.; ;REGLOGO; Y C:\EAZIHOST\PRIVATE; 0; Private area - no access.; PRIVLIST.LST;; In this example any user can have download access to the first area. Only users with an access level of 5 or over may download from the second area. Only users included on the membership list 'PRIVLIST.LST' can see or download files from the third area. The five ';' field separators must be present - one or more spaces may be located before or after them if desired. Note: All new users are automatically give an access level of 0. The Sysop could encourage users, via NEWUSER.HST, to leave a message requesting upgrade. If full descriptions of download files are to be provided for callers, each file area directory should have within it a text file called 'XXXXXXXX.XXX' which contains one line per file name and description. This file is a standard ascii file, created by the Sysop, and may contain the special '^' control codes. The XXXXXXXX.XXX file is ignored by the (W)ide option (as is XXXXXXX.BAK) and will not be seen by users even though it is amongst the download files. When (L)ist is used the contents of the XXXXXXXX.XXX file in the current download file area is displayed to the caller. Callers can move between file areas via the (A)rea option on the file menu. If no file areas are defined then the single default file area logo, if it has been created, is FILELOGO.ANS/TXT. When separate file areas are defined each may be assigned it's own logo named in each entry's 'LOGO' field in FILES.HST as detailed above. All such logos must be located in the 'Host Main Path' directory. Note: FILES.HST may be edited from within host mode itself but you MUST drop back into EaziHost's main menu and enter host mode again before any changes will take effect. Separate Upload Areas Uploads from callers are normally sent to the 'Host Upload Path' defined in the configuration section. Uploads can however, be directed to individual upload areas. If the caller is in a file download area in which the Sysop has created a local sub-directory called 'UPLOADS', the upload will go into that UPLOADS directory rather than into the default 'Host Upload Path'. If the caller indicates that the upload is Private, then if the local 'UPLOADS' subdirectory exists, the file is sent to a directory called PRIVATE off the local 'UPLOADS' directory. In other cases the 'Host Upload Path' and PRIVATE subdirectory off it is used. In all cases, if the PRIVATE directories do not exist, EaziHost creates them as and when they are required. Multiple Message Areas Up to 64 separate message areas can be defined in a file called MESSAGES.HST. This file must be located in the 'Host Main Path' directory. If it does not exist then the 'Host Message Path' in the configuration section will be the only message area available. The MESSAGES.HST file is a normal ASCII file in which each line represents a separate message area - the form of each entry is as follows: FULL_PATH_NAME; n; TITLE; p; MEMBER_LIST; LOGO; l Where - 'FULL_PATH_NAME' is the directory where the message base is to be established. 'n' is the access level required to read or post messages in that area. 'TITLE' is the message area description to be displayed to callers (60 characters max). 'p' is a single letter 'Y' or 'N' indicating whether users may mark their messages as PRIVATE or not, whole message areas can made public in this way. The optional 'MEMBER_LIST' field controls access to the message area - see the earlier 'Member Only!' section. If the area is designated as 'members only' then only members may access messages in that area and the system prevents messages from being posted in that area, addressed to users who are not members. 'LOGO' is a logo file in 'Host Main Path' and 'l' indicates whether or not the logo is to be displayed on every entry to that message area or not - see the FILES.HST section for more details on the use of logos. Note: 'n' may optionally contain 'S' instead of an access level 0..9. 'S' may only be used for one area and indicates that log- off messages to the Sysop should always be stored in that message area. The access level of an 'S' area is always 0 - thus any caller can leave a log-off message to the Sysop. If no message area is marked 'S', message area 1 is always used for log-off messages. Please note that you should NOT assign a membership file to the area which is to receive log-off messages to the Sysop, nor should you assign an access level other than 0 to area 1 if 'S' is not used - full access is then available to all callers. Please note that all message areas are searched in the mail check when a caller logs on, so that no messages addressed to him/her will be missed. Note: The Batch sub-options (A)ll and (R)ange (described fully later) only collect messages from the CURRENT message area when adding messages to the MAILBAG, the (N)ew option can be made to collect from the current message area only, or from ALL message areas defined in MESSAGES.HST, at the callers discretion. Doors It is possible to run external programs (doors) from EaziHost's host mode. One of EaziHost's three types of Door mechanism is compatible with version 12 of the PCBOARD BBS (tm) which means that a large number of games and other Door programs written for that system can be run from EaziHost. Another door type is compatible with doors which require a QBBS/Remote Access style 'DORINFO1.DEF' door file The different types of Door program which can be run from EaziHost are: Type 1 - PCBOARD v12 compatible door programs which have their own comms I/O built-in. Immediately before this type of door program is run, a file PCBOARD.SYS is created in the door program's directory. This file contains information required by the external program. In addition the PCBOARD file, PCBOARD.DAT must be copied into the directory where the Door program is located. This file also contains information required by the external program and can be obtained from a PCBOARD archive file. Type 2 - Batch files and/or programs which use DOS I/O ONLY - the I/O of which can be re-directed to the comms port by DOS I/O redirection. All batch file commands can be used with this door type as can any program which receives it's input and directs it's output through the basic DOS functions. Programs which use direct hardware access or BIOS calls for their I/O will NOT work with this door type. I/O redirection is automatically handled by EaziHost. If you want to see ANSI output locally when running Type 2 doors in local mode, you must have the DOS device driver ANSI.SYS installed. This does not apply to the display seen locally when a real caller is online, which is handled by EaziHost's internal ANSI-BBS driver. IMPORTANT - The I/O redirection method used with type 2 doors, would allow the DOS prompt and even the words 'ECHO OFF' to be passed through to the caller if the door being run is a batch file. To prevent this, EaziHost does not send any output from a type 2 door batch file to the caller until the command 'ECHO OFF' has been executed. It is therefore VITAL that you include the line 'ECHO OFF' in your door type 2 batch files at a point after which you want output to be transmitted - If you do not, no output will be sent at all. You may exclude the 'ECHO OFF' command if your door is carrying out some housekeeping job and does not need to send anything to the caller during it's operation. Just think of the batch line 'ECHO OFF' as a switch to turn ON transmission to the caller. Note: Do NOT use the '@ECHO OFF' variant introduced in MS-DOS 3.3, because this 'hides' the 'ECHO OFF' which prevents EaziHost from detecting it. Please don't forget about this because such doors WILL operate properly in local test mode without 'ECHO OFF' but NOT online. All of this only applies to BATCH files run as TYPE 2 doors, whether they be defined in DOORS.HST, ENTRY1.HST, ENTRY2.HST, EXIT1.HST, EXIT2.HST or the (X)tra utility doors defined in FILE.UTL and MESSAGE.UTL. Type 1 or 3 doors and other batch files used by EaziHost, like RECYCLE.BAT and BATCH.BAT, are not affected. Type 3 - This is exactly the same as a Type 1 door but does not generate PCBOARD.SYS. If your door program has it's own comms I/O built-in and does not require PCBOARD.SYS or any other non- EaziHost door information file - use a Type 3 door. Type 4 - QBBS/Remote Access compatible doors which require a DORINFO1.DEF file to take information from. The DORINFO1.DEF file is automatically generated by EaziHost in the door's directory. If used in conjunction with TeleLink Software's DoorMaster (tm) program, the type 4 door mechanism can be used to run doors originally designed for PCBOARD v14, Wildcat, QBBS, Remote Access, RBBS etc. Note: Type 2 Doors should only be provided if you are using a communications port supported by your version of DOS - usually restricted to port 1 or 2. Up to 16 Doors can be defined in a special file DOORS.HST which must be located in the 'Host Main Path' directory. Any of the 16 entries may, optionally, be a pointer to another list of 16 doors making it possible to define up to 240 doors. DOORS.HST is a standard ascii file containing one definition per line with the following structure: n; l; t; TITLE; FULL_PATH_NAME The 'n' is a single digit, 0..9, representing the access level required to run the Door. The 'l' is a letter 'Y' (Yes) or 'N' (No) which indicates whether EaziHost's built-in soft re-boot recovery should be employed if the line drops whilst a door is in use. The 't' indicates which Door type the program requires (1 to 3). 'TITLE' is the name of the Door program to be displayed to the caller (60 chars Max.). 'FULL_PATH_NAME' is the full file name, and must include drive, path, file name, filename extension and parameters, of the Door program (100 chars Max). The file name MUST include either a 'BAT', 'COM' or 'EXE' extension. Example DOORS.HST file entry: 5; N; 1; BlackJack; C:\EAZIHOST\GAMES\PCB21V17.EXE PCB21V17.CFG Here users with an access level of 5 or over can play BlackJack. The 'N' indicates that the Door program monitors the carrier itself so the EaziHost soft re-boot recovery will not be needed if the line drops. All door file names must include the 'COM', 'EXE' or 'BAT' extension because each file type is handled differently. Type 2 doors are always executed by the command processor and are ideal for executing batch files which can be written to carry out simple or very complex tasks - the possibilities are almost unlimited. The four ';' field separators must be present - they may have one or more spaces on either side if desired. Please note that immediately before a door is run, EaziHost changes to the directory path contained in 'FULL_PATH_NAME' - if any. Thus when the program runs it can find all it's support files in it's own, current, directory. This is also where PCBOARD.SYS (or DORINFO1.DEF for type 4 doors) is automatically created and also where the Sysop should put the PCBOARD.DAT file if the door is of type 1. The PCBOARD.SYS file is NOT created for door types 2 and 3. The system variables can be used in a door program parameter list to pass information from the main board to a door program or batch file. (see: SYSTEM VARIABLES) Door list pointers As mentioned above any of the 16 entries in DOORS.HST may be a pointer to another list of 16 doors. A pointer entry of this type takes the form: n; l; t; TITLE; DOORS.ext Where 'n' is access level and 'l' can be either 'Y' or 'N' as it is not used in pointer entries. Door type 't' must be set to '0' to indicate a pointer entry. 'TITLE' will be used as the displayed header for the secondary door list. 'DOORS.ext' must be a simple file name without path elements and must match the file name form 'DOORS.*' - i.e. the file name must be 'DOORS' but the extension may be anything. The door list defined by 'DOORS.ext' must be located in the HOSTMAIN directory. Secondary door lists of this kind can contain normal door entries but NOT further pointer entries. Example door pointer entry: 0; N; 0; Games; DOORS.1 When selected, this option would display another list of doors with the title 'Games', which have been defined in 'DOORS.1' which must itself have been created in 'HOSTMAIN' by the Sysop. Access level is honoured in the pointer entries just as for other doors. Doors & memory swapping Some larger doors may need more memory to run in than is normally available when shelling from EaziHost. EaziHost's code is in two files - EAZIHOST.EXE and EAZIHOST.OV1. A large section of code, contained in the .OV1 file, can be temporarily removed from memory allowing about 100K of extra memory to be made available. After the external program has terminated, the swapped out code is re-loaded from the .OV1 file. This memory expanding feature is always used when RECYCLE.BAT, BATCH.BAT and the remote shell are run and can be selected for use with door programs on a door by door basis. Doors types are normally numbered 1..4 (type 0 is a special pointer type). To specify that a door is to use the new memory reclaiming mechanism you simply add 5 to the door type digit in the door definition file - i.e: Original Door Type Memory Reclaiming Equivalent ------------------ ---------------------------- 1 6 2 7 3 8 4 9 The word 'Door' includes doors specified in DOORS.HST, ENTRY1.HST, ENTRY2.HST, EXIT1.HST, EXIT2.HST, xxxx.UTL doors, additional menu option doors etc. - In fact anywhere within the EaziHost system where standard door definition lines are used to define an external program. Since EaziHost needs to access the .OV1 file regularly it is important that this file is always accessible to the program. The (X)tra Utilities Special utility doors can be accessed from the file and message areas, via the (X)tra option, if the Sysop creates the required files. Up to 16 utilities may be provided in the form of a list of doors. These door lists are called 'FILE.UTL' and 'MESSAGE.UTL' for use from the Files area and Message area (X)tra options, respectively. These .UTL files, if required must be created in the 'Host Main Path' directory. The format of the files is identical to that of the 'DOORS.HST' file except that pointer entries are NOT allowed. The ENTRY Doors Two optional files called 'ENTRY1.HST' and 'ENTRY2.HST may be created by the Sysop in the 'Host Main Path' directory. These files consist of a single line door definition like those used in DOORS.HST. If ENTRY1.HST exists, the door program defined within it is run immediately before the 'NOTICE.HST' file has been displayed. If 'ENTRY2.HST exists, it is run immediately after the WELCOME screen is displayed - before the mail check run. These entrance doorways could be used, for example, to offer a questionnaire to new users or for any other purpose for which a door can be used. Note that the 'Title' field is not used but must be present even though it is empty (i.e. the semicolon separator is required). The door's access level determines whether the door is to run for a particular caller or not, as usual. The EXIT doors Exactly like the ENTRY doors above but located before and after the prompt asking if the caller wishes to leave a message to the Sysop at log-off. Archive Viewing The Host mode file section has an archive View feature. Files in any archive may be listed and any text file within an archive can be read, on-line, by a caller. The file menu option (V)iew invokes external de-archiving utilities, which the Sysop must provide. Archive types may be ARC, ZIP, PAK or any other which becomes available. To make Viewing facilities available, a special ascii file named 'VIEWS.HST' must be created in the 'Host Main Path' directory. Within this file up to 5 different de- archiving tools may be defined - one per line. The file's format is as follows: EXT; LIST; EXTRACT The field 'EXT' is the 3 letter archive type's extension. The 'LIST' field contains the de-archiving utility's name and parameters required to generate a list of files within the archive. The 'EXTRACT' field contains the de-archiving utility's name and parameters required to extract a single named file from an archive. The archive file's name is included in the parameter list by use of the %arc system variable and the text file to be extracted (for reading) from an archive is passed in the system variable %file. The 'LIST' and 'EXTRACT' field entries may contain the full path names of the de-archiving tools or just the short file name if the tools are located in a directory pointed to by the DOS PATH command. Example VIEWS.HST file: ZIP; PKUNZIP/V %arc; PKUNZIP %arc %file ARC; PKXARC/V %arc; PKXARC %arc %file PAK; PAK v %arc; PAK e %arc %file The two ';' field separators must be present - one or more spaces may be located before or after them if desired. Callers selecting the View option are prompted to enter the name of the archive, the contents of which they wish to view. A simple short file name without drive, path or wild card components must be entered. If no extension is included then EaziHost will automatically find the first matching file which has any one of the extensions defined in the 'EXT' fields of VIEWS.HST. If for example the caller types 'EAZIHOST' and the file 'EAZIHOST.ARC' exists then the VIEWS.HST utility installed to deal with ARC files will automatically be used to process the file. Batch Message Compression Callers may optionally fill a Mailbag with messages, news items etc. and download it using the (B)at command. The caller's selected items are added to a file called 'MAILBAG.MSG' which EaziHost creates in the 'Host Main Path' directory. If the optional file 'BATCH.BAT' has been created by the Sysop in the 'Host Main Path' directory, the caller is given the option of compressing the mailbag - otherwise the mailbag is downloaded in ordinary ascii form. The BATCH.BAT file only needs to contain two command lines - one to archive the 'MAILBAG.MSG' file, and the second to delete the original 'MAILBAG.MSG' file. It is important to delete the original file after archiving because EaziHost will download the first file in the 'Host Main Path' matching 'MAILBAG.*' regardless of the extension - thus any archiving tool may be used. This is a typical 'BATCH.BAT' file: pkzip mailbag.zip mailbag.msg del mailbag.msg Note: the above example assumes that PKZIP is in a directory pointed to by your PATH command - the 'Host Main Path' is the current directory when 'BATCH.BAT' is run so no path specifications are required in the batch file. ALL files matching the mask 'MAILBAG.*' are erased from the 'Host Main Path' whenever a caller logs on. Remember to change the name 'mailbag' to your board's special mailbag name if you are using the 'Board Identity' field. The first line of a downloaded mailbag will include board identity and date information like this: Board Identity: SAND Collected: 02-10-91 Time Limits Daily time limits may be imposed on callers if desired. Time limits are related to validation levels. The time allowance to be linked to a particular access level is controlled by a file called 'TIMES.HST' which the Sysop creates in the 'Host Main Path' directory. If TIMES.HST does not exists ALL users are given UNLIMITED time. If TIMES.HST did exist but it has been deleted to give UNLIMITED time allowances to all, run the supplied SETTIMES utility to correct the values in the USER.HST file. Likewise whenever you change the contents of TIMES.HST, run SETTIMES. The general form of this ascii text file is as follows: 0: 30 1: 60 2: 70 3: 80 etc... 8: 130 9: 0 The first digit represents the access level and the number after the colon is the daily time allowance in minutes (Max 255). At midnight a caller's full daily allowance is automatically restored. A caller who exceeds his daily allowance will be logged off when he next enters a menu (those produced by the .MNU files) - he will not be able to log back on that same day. Time taken to upload files is automatically credited to the caller who is thus not penalised for uploading. Note: The time value of 0 allocated to level 9 users - a time value of 0 means UNLIMITED time is allocated to such users. If any access level is not defined in TIMES.HST, users with that level are given UNLIMITED time, i.e. a time value of 0. Although 0 is allocated to level 9 users in the example, any level may be given UNLIMITED time in the same way. To help to manage daily time limits, two Sysop features have been provided. The Main menu offered to the Sysop, when he logs on with the Sysop's password, now includes a (T)imeLeft option. This enables the Sysop to change the current day's time allowance for any user - note that at midnight it will revert to the time allowance related to the callers access level once again. Whilst a caller is online, the Sysop may use 'Alt T' to change the current caller's time allowance on the spot. The new time may exceed the callers normal maximum and will be valid until midnight. Note: Neither of these two time control options can be used on a user with UNLIMITED time. All callers, who do not have UNLIMITED time, are given their time left for the day at log-on. When a user logs on with the Sysop's password he is ALWAYS allocated UNLIMITED time. This does not affect any time limit which may apply to that user when he logs on under his normal password. The Sysop is advised to use the '%TimeLeft' system variable in the MAIN.MNU file, to show a user how much time he has left whenever that menu re-displays. For example: ^C32MAIN MENU - ^C36You have^C1 %timeleft^C0^C36 minutes left.^C1 ^C36(^C33N^C36)ews (^C33F^C36)iles (^C33M^C36)essages etc... ^C0^C32Select: ^Z Recycle Housekeeping If the optional file 'RECYCLE.BAT' is created by the Sysop in the 'Host Main Path', it is automatically run after each caller has logged off, before the host mode resets itself ready for the next caller. This could be used to copy/update files, run a utility or carry out any between call housekeeping which the Sysop desires. If RECYCLE.BAT is not returned from within 15 minutes the system reboots in an attempt to clear any problem. Note: RECYCLE.BAT only runs after a SUCCESSFUL log on. Local Editor The Sysop may, optionally, specify an external editor to be invoked when (P)osting or (R)eplying to messages within EaziHost. This editor will be offered via the prompt 'Use local editor? Y/N:', when in LOCAL MODE ONLY. If the Sysop wants to implement this feature he must create a file called 'LOCAL.EDT' in the 'Host Main Path' directory. This file requires a single line entry in the form: FULL_PATH_NAME %file /I For example to use EaziEdit in this role you might have the line: C:\UTILITY\EAZIEDIT %file /I The '%file' is converted, automatically, to the correct 'n.MSG' file name to which your text is to be saved. Note: it is important that your chosen editor can take the full path name of a file to be loaded and edited, as a parameter as shown above. The '/I' parameter is optional and is NOT passed on as a parameter to your editor. If you have specified the '/I' flag and your message is a Reply, the text of the message to which you are replying is automatically imported into your editor with each line of the original text prefixed with 'FL> ' - 'F' is the first name initial and 'L' the last name initial of the original message sender. You may delete and edit lines as you wish and insert your own text in order to answer selected points from the original message. If the '/I' parameter is not included, a new empty file is always offered for editing. Menu Customisation The text for most menus is held in external files. The default menu files are supplied. If these files are not placed in the 'Host Main Path' directory, a short 'Expert' menu, which is built-in, is displayed instead. In the same way, all help screens are external files which must be placed in the 'Host Main Path' directory. If any help file does not exist, a 'No help is available!' message is displayed to the caller. Default .HLP files are also supplied, corresponding to each .MNU file. Menu files have the extension '.MNU' and help file '.HLP'. Since these files are standard text files, the Sysop can edit them to change the colour and general layout of the menus but remember that the options available remain the same - the newly designed menu should make all available options clear to callers. The files may include any '^' special codes and any system variables. The appropriate .HLP file is displayed when the '?' option is selected. A .HLP file exists for each of the MNU files except VERTICAL.MNU and have the same file name as the .MNU files but with the extension .HLP e.g. MAIN.HLP, DOOR.HLP etc. The .MNU files are as follows: MAIN.MNU The MAIN MENU. SYSMAIN.MNU The MAIN MENU (Sysop extended version) FILE.MNU The FILES menu. MESSAGE.MNU The MESSAGES menu. OPTION.MNU The OPTIONS menu. NEWS.MNU The news menu which starts - 'NEWS: ...' DOOR.MNU The door menu which starts - 'DOOR: ...' VIEW.MNU The view menu which starts - 'VIEW: ...' BATCH.MNU The full batch menu which starts - 'BATCH: ...' MINBAT.MNU The cut-down batch menu which starts - 'BATCH: ...' EDITOR.MNU The editor menu which starts - 'EDITOR: ...' EDIT.MNU The edit menu which starts - 'EDIT: ...' READ.MNU The message menu which starts - 'READ: ...' MAIL.MNU The message menu which starts - 'MAIL: ...' FIND.MNU The message menu which starts - 'FIND: ...' A number of additional items have been added specifically for use within the .MNU files: 1) A '^Z' string embedded in any of the xxxx.MNU files, causes the display of that file file to terminate abruptly. This can be used to ensure that the menu display stops after the user-input prompt thus ensuring that the character entered by the user is echoed in the correct position. 2) The system variable %messagecount has been added to enable the number of messages in the current area to be included in MESSAGE.MNU - for example: ^C0^C32MESSAGES - ^C36There are %messagecount messages.^C0 3) The system variable %areatitle enables the current file area title to be included in FILE.MNU. The system variable %areanumber enables the current file area number to be included - for example: ^C0^C32FILES - AREA %areanumber: ^C36%areatitle^C0 Example MAIN MENU definition file: ^C33-MAIN MENU-^C0^C32 - %first %last on-board at %speed baud. ^C36^C1(^C33N^C36)ews, (^C33F^C36)iles, etc... ^C0^C32Your choice %first: ^Z This would appear to a caller called John Smith as: -MAIN MENU- - John Smith on-board at 2400 baud. (N)ews, (F)iles, etc... Your choice John: _ Please note the use of '^Z' to stop the display dead at the point where the user's input character needs to be echoed - without it a RETURN and LINE-FEED would be sent and the users input would be echoed on the line below the new menu. Menus can be completely re-designed or re-coloured with this system but it is best not to create very deep menus or you may find that in certain cases text scrolls of the screen before it can be properly studied. Please note you do not need to use '^C0' before '^Z' to cancel colours, nor are leading '^C0', '^M^J' sequences or blank lines required because they are hard-wired into the program code. This ensures that, following arbitrary text file output to the screen, any colours set by ANSI or '^C' special codes in the text file are cancelled and the menu is always preceded by a blank line when re-displayed. A special file 'VERTICAL.MNU' contains information about how the numbers ahead of vertical menus like Door titles, News bulletins, File areas etc. and the letter which precedes file transfer protocols, should be displayed. A default file is supplied. The file consists of just one line of text which is, in effect, a mask where the number or letter is represented by a single '*'. For example if VERTICAL.MNU contains: ^C36[^C33*^C36] vertical menu numbers would appear thus: [1] - Item 1 [2] - Item 2 etc. Whereas: ^C36<-^C33*^C36-> would cause vertical menu numbering to appear thus: <-1-> - Item 1 <-2-> - Item 2 etc. Two or three leading indentation spaces and a a trailing ' - ' sequence are automatically added by the program. If VERTICAL.MNU does not exist then the plain number or letter is displayed in basic default colours. No leading or trailing '^C0' is needed. To make even the short 'Expert' menus redesignable, an optional short Expert menu file may be created, for each menu, in the 'Host Main Path' directory. These files have the same name as the .MNU files described above but with a letter 'X' prefixing the name. For example the Expert menu definition file for the NEWS menu is called 'XNEWS.MNU'. These 'X' menus should be kept short or their purpose is defeated. The advantage of using 'X' files is, of course, that they can be coloured and reshaped to suit your taste or match the full menu files that you may have designed. The menu shown under the different possible circumstances will be as follows: Expert Menus On 1) The short 'X' menu on disk - if it exists! 2) The hard-wired menu within the program. Expert Menus Off 1) The full menu on disk - if it exists! 2) The short 'X' menu on disk - if it exists! 3) The hard-wired menu within the program. Note: The default disk based full menus and help screens may be supplied in a compressed file called EHTEXT.ZIP (or ARC) from which they must be extracted. Removing menu options Any menu option can be suppressed altogether if required. For example those wishing to provide a simple support board, on which say doors will play no part, can disable the 'D' key option on the main menu which, in conjunction with editing the text of the relevant .MNU file to remove the (D)oor option, totally hides the fact that doors were ever available. A key option can be suppressed by making the first line of the relevant .MNU file start with a '#' character which is followed by the keys to be blocked. For example to block the use of (D)oors and (N)ews from the main menu, the first line of MAIN.MNU would look like this: #dn Pressing the 'N' and 'D' keys at the main menu will then have no effect at all. Note: The '#' symbol must be the FIRST character on the line - Of course ordinary menu lines must not start with '#' or the system will treat the line like a key blocking sequence. IMPORTANT: Since the blocked characters are defined in the .MNU files, you must create the expert versions of the .MNU files too and include the '#' blocking sequence in those too. Otherwise callers using Expert menus will be offered the hard-wired expert menus which cannot be edited and on which options cannot therefore be blocked. Another way to handle this would be to make expert menu mode inaccessible by blocking the (E)xpert entry on the Options menu. Adding menu options Up to ten extra menu options per menu, in the form of doors, may be added to the four major section menus - Main menu, File menu, Message menu and Options menu. This mechanism could be used, for example, to add commands to invoke BiModem or access a CD-ROM interface directly from the File menu. The method is similar to that used to suppress options. The .MNU files carry the extra command information in lines starting with a '+' symbol rather than the '#' symbol used for key suppression. The general form of an added command is: +L FILENAME Where '+' indicates that the line is an added command definition, 'L' is the character to be the hot-key used to access the new command and 'FILENAME' is a DOS file name up to 8 characters long with NO extension.. EaziHost adds the extension '.ADD' itself. EaziHost expects a file matching the name 'FILENAME.ADD' to have been created by the Sysop in the HOSTMAIN sub-directory. FILENAME can be any name except DOORS, ENTRY1, ENTRY2, EXIT1 or EXIT2. FILENAME.ADD must contain a single line door definition just as ENTRY1.HST & ENTRY2.HST do. If the added command has the same hot-key as one of the menu's built-in commands, it will take precedence over it and , in effect, disable the built-in command. File menu example: +M BIMOD +R CDROM ^C32FILE AREA %AreaNumber: ^C0%AreaTitle^C0^C1 ^C36(^C33A^C36)rea (^C33L^C36)ist etc... ^C36(^C33C^C36)hat CD-(^C33R^C36)OM Bi(^C33M^C36)odem etc... ^C0^C32Select: ^Z Here 'M' is used for Bi(M)odem to prevent conflict with (B)at and 'R' is used for CD-(R)om to prevent conflict with (C)hat. The single line door definition files BIMOD.ADD and CDROM.ADD must be created in HOSTMAIN by the Sysop. Colour Customisation The colours used in display files, menus, help screens etc. can be controlled by using the '^' special codes within the text - as described above and in the 'SPECIAL CODES' section. The colours of the hard-wired headings messages and prompts etc. within EaziHost's host mode can also be defined by the Sysop. A special file called 'COLOUR.HST' may be created in the 'Host Main Path' directory, containing the required colour sequences. ONLY FOREGROUND colours should be used in this file - background changes may create odd effects. The COLOUR.HST file consists of up to 9 lines starting with a colour number like this: n: codes where 'n' is a digit in the range 1..9 and 'codes' is a string of digits and semi-colons representing the ANSI colour codes required to create the desired effect. For Example: 2: 1;36 would assign to colour number 2 the codes to produce bright cyan text. The sections of text affected by each colour number are as follows: 1: General comments, error messages and prompts. 2: The EDITOR and FIND two line user explanation texts. 3: Expert menu headings and section headings such as 'News Bulletins', 'Doors', 'Files', 'File Descriptions' etc. 4: The , & texts in message headers. 5: The fixed field names in message headers, field names in the FIND mask and line numbers in the message editor. 6: Expert menu round brackets. 7: Expert menu key letters (inside the brackets). 8: Used in conjunction with 9 where two contrasting colours are used in the same display: 1) The 'More?' part of 'More? Y/N'. 2) The 'Press' part of 'Press [RETURN]...' 3) The remote users chat text colour. 4) The file name in the (W)ide display. 5) The (V)alidateUser level text prompts. 6) The main body of the (U)ser list display. 7) The log-in 'Checking for mail' text. 9: Used in conjunction with 8 where two contrasting colours are used in the same display: 1) The 'Y/N' part of 'More? Y/N'. 2) The '[RETURN]...' part of 'Press [RETURN]...' 3) The Sysop's chat text colour. 4) The file size in the (W)ide display. 5) The (V)alidateUser level values. 6) The validation level in the (U)ser list display. 7) The log-in 'Checking for mail' number of messages value. Any of the colour numbers may be defined or left out as you desire. If the 'codes' part of the line is over 8 characters long it will be ignored (no error message is generated). If the COLOUR.HST file does not exist, a set of default colours is used which match the colour scheme in the default .MNU and .HLP files supplied. Note: It is best to avoid using blue or light blue foreground colours as this may be displayed on some callers monochrome monitors as underlined text and can look messy. HOST MODE IN OPERATION Waiting for a call When Host mode is invoked a window is displayed along with a status line at the foot of the screen. The window displays EaziHost's attempts to initialise the modem - this sequence can be short-cut at any time by pressing 'E'xit, 'N'ull Modem, 'L'ocal or function key 'F1'. If after several attempts, the modem is not responding, an error message to that effect continues to flash on the screen until the Sysop intervenes. If the Sysop does not intervene within 1 minute the system will reboot in an attempt to clear the problem. If the modem initialised successfully, EaziHost will then be waiting for a call. After 1 minute a VDU anti-burn feature is activated and the fixed display is replaced by a slowly scrolling single line message. Operation of Host mode is fairly straight forward. The local Sysop can test it's operation by use of the 'L'ocal test feature. The 'N'ull modem option puts host mode on-line when EaziHost is being used to connect two computers together via a null modem cable. (See the DIRECT CONNECTION section) All protocols defined for use with EaziHost are offered in host mode. Whilst EaziHost is waiting for a call, if the Sysop presses (S)tatus, the number of calls since host mode was last entered is displayed for 5 seconds, at the foot of the screen, along with the name of the last caller. In addition, the anti-burn line, which normally has '***** EAZIHOST *****' in the centre, has '***** [ CALL ] *****' instead, if any callers have logged in. The Sysop can see at a glance if he has had any callers and by pressing (S)tatus, how many and who was last on. Note: This information is zeroed on leaving host mode to return to the main menu. Only a 'Visible' log-in is recorded by these new features. Again, whilst EaziHost is waiting for a call, the Sysop can press 'F1' to gain rapid entry to the board in local mode. When the board is entered via 'F1', the name found in the 'Sysop's Name' field in the configuration section is automatically assumed and entered for you as is the 'Sysops Password', and 'Visible log-in' is set to No. If you wish to log in locally and test the board as an ordinary user you should use the (L)ocal entry option. Note: It is important that the name found in the 'Sysop's Name' field of the configuration section, is also in the USER.HST file - so before you can use 'F1' you must have logged in via (L)ocal and established yourself as a board user in the normal way. When a caller is on-line the bottom line of the host mode screen displays details about the current caller. Hold down Alt to see a list of Sysop options which can be selected from the host end - shell to DOS, invoke the editor, hang-up, validate or change the time left of a user, turn chat on/off etc. If the user pages you for a chat press [SPACE] to chat or ignore it. To end a chat session press [ESC]. The Sysop can make entries or select menu options for a caller at any time just as if he was in local test mode. Chat mode can be enabled/disabled by the Sysop at any time whilst waiting for a call (press 'C') or whilst a caller is on- line (press 'Alt C'). The Sysop can give a caller a new validation level whilst on-line, via the Alt V command and a new time left figure for the current day with Alt T. When a user logs on If a text file called LOGO.HST is found in the EaziHost main directory it is displayed to greet users who log onto host mode. If no file is found a default logo is shown. Since this Logo is shown before log-on it must be an ASCII text file since it is not known whether the user uses ANSI at this stage. Note: LOGO.HST is only displayed by REGISTERED copies of EaziHost - shareware copies always display a fixed copyright notice instead. When a new user logs on for the first time, if the host configuration option 'Open System' is set to NO then access will be denied to them. If the system is open they are invited to enter a password which they wish to use and also to indicate whether they want ANSI displays or not and which text editor they wish to use. Their name, password, and ANSI status is automatically entered in the USER.HST file along with an access validation level of 0. Please note that all access to the USER.HST file must be via the host mode options, please DO NOT attempt to edit USER.HST with a text editor. USER.HST is created and updated automatically in the 'Host Main Path' directory. If the caller is a new user and the file NEWUSER.HST has been created in the 'Host Main Path' directory, then the text is displayed to the caller. If the file does not exist, no text is displayed. If a text file NOTICE.HST has been created by the Sysop in the 'Host Main Path' directory it is displayed to the caller. This file should be used for special notices to all callers. If a text file WELCOME.TXT or WELCOME.ANS is found on the 'Host Main Path' one or the other is displayed depending on whether the user has elected ANSI displays or not. If ANSI mode is set and WELCOME.ANS does not exist but WELCOME.TXT does then the .TXT file will be shown. If neither file exists then no welcome message is displayed. ANSI displays can be created either manually or via programs like THE DRAW. If required, such files must be created by the Sysop and put into the 'Host Main Path'. IF ENTRY1.HST and/or ENTRY2.HST doors have been created, they are run as described in the 'The ENTRY Doors' section earlier. The Main Menu (N)ews.......Access the News bulletins - A flashing marker indicates those updated since the user last called. (F)iles......Access the Files section. (M)essages...Access the Message section. (D)oor.......Access the Doors. (O)ptions....Access the user Options sections. (C)hat.......Page the Sysop for a chat. (U)sers......Lists the users in USER.HST. (B)at........Enter the message batching section. The following, cut-down, range of options are available to facilitate the manipulation and downloading of the mailbag: (P)review..Preview the contents of the mailbag. (D)own.....Download the mailbag - the caller is asked if he wants the mailbag archiving if the Sysop has created the optional 'BATCH.BAT' file in the 'Host Main Path' directory. (U)p.......Upload the reply MAILBAG. (not used yet) (S)ize.....Display the MAILBAG's current size in K. (C)lear....Clear out the mailbag for a fresh start. (?)........Help. (Q)uit.....Quit to the previous menu. (?)..........Help. (G)oodbye....Log-off. Users are offered the option of leaving a message to the Sysop before leaving. Sysop Extras A user who used the special Sysop password on entering the system has the following extra facilities. The (U)ser option also lists the user's password, validation level and ANSI status. The (S)hell option allows access to the DOS shell. The (K)illUser option allows the removal of a named user from USER.HST. The (V)alidateUser option allows the Sysop to change the validation level of any user. The (T)imeLeft option allows the Sysop to change a user's time allowance - for the current day only. The News Menu (R)ead......Read a selected news bulletin. (L)ist......List the news bulletin titles - A flashing marker indicates those updated since the user last called. (!).........Add a selected bulletin to the mailbag. (?).........Help. (Q)uit......Quit to the main menu. The File Menu (A)rea......Change file area - only if multiple area are defined. (L)ist......If the optional file XXXXXXXX.XXX exists in the current download directory then lines from it are listed according to the Search string entered by the user. The search string is not case sensitive and any line from the file which contains the string will be included in the on-screen listing. This mechanism is designed to enable the operator to include file descriptions in the system and allow users to selectively list them. (See the 'Special Host Mode Files' section later for full details) (W)ide......A wide (4 across) listing of the available files is displayed, along with each file's size. The File mask is used as under DOS to specify particular files if required. (V)iew......View the contents of an archive/read a text file within an archive. Provided that the Sysop has set up VIEWS.HST to cope with all archive types on the board, only the file name without extension needs to be entered when specifying the archive file to be viewed - EaziHost will select the correct de- archiving tool required to view the file. Once the archives contents have been listed the following options are offered: (L)ist.....List the files again. (R)ead.....Read a text file within the archive. (!)........Add a selected text file to the mailbag. (?)........Help. (Q)uit.....Quit to the file menu. (T)ype......This is used to type the contents of a standard ASCII text file on screen. (U)p........Starts a file upload. The protocol is prompted for followed by the file name. If a non-existent 'Host Upload Path' has been defined in the configuration section the user is politely informed that upload facilities are not available. This is a simple way of disabling the upload option. The caller is asked if the upload is private. If he replies 'Y' then the file is uploaded into a special directory called 'PRIVATE' within the 'Host Upload Path' directory - EaziHost will create the 'PRIVATE' directory if it does not exist. The caller is requested to enter a description of the file, this description, along with the file name, is appended to a file called XXXXXXX.XXX in the upload (or private) directory. (D)own......Starts a file download. Only files located in the current download area's directory will be available. File descriptions will only be available if the Sysop has created the XXXXXXXX.XXX file in the current download area's directory. (See the 'Special Host Mode Files' section). A user is prevented from downloading more files than his time limit will allow (calculated using %LineSpeed). (B)at.......Enter the message batching section. The following, cut-down, range of options are available to facilitate the manipulation and downloading of the mailbag: (P)review..Preview the contents of the mailbag. (D)own.....Download the mailbag - the caller is asked if he wants the mailbag archiving if the Sysop has created the optional 'BATCH.BAT' file in the 'Host Main Path' directory. (U)p.......Upload the reply MAILBAG. (not used yet) (S)ize.....Display the MAILBAG's current size in K. (C)lear....Clear out the mailbag for a fresh start. (?)........Help. (Q)uit.....Quit to the previous menu. (C)hat......Page the Sysop for a chat. (X)tra......Access the file area's Xtra door utilities. (?).........Help. (Q)uit......Quit to the main menu. The Message Menu Messages for each message area are held within the system in the message area's own directory, in two parts. The message area's headers are kept in a single file called MESSAGE.IDX which the system automatically creates and updates. The text of each message is kept in a separate file in the same directory, where the file name is a number and the extension is '.MSG' e.g. 1.MSG, 2.MSG, 145.MSG etc. All message file handling is carried out through the host mode. NEVER delete any message files or the MESSAGE.IDX file manually. Immediately after the welcome screen is shown the system asks if the caller wants to check for personal messages. If he answers 'Y'es the system performs a message check, in all message areas, to see if any new messages, addressed to the current user, exist. If so he is asked if he wishes to read them immediately. If 'Y' is pressed the messages are displayed. In most situations the system does not display private message headers to callers who are unable to read the associated message. Nor are such messages included when the system checks for new messages since a caller last logged in. Note: The full screen ANSI editor (described earlier) may be used by a caller rather than the line editor described below. To enter the message section proper, press 'M' from the main menu. Access to particular message areas is controlled by area membership and access level as described earlier. The following message options are available to callers: (A)rea......Change to another message area. (P)ost......Send a message to another named user. The user's name must be found in USER.HST. If 'ALL' is entered in response to 'To: ' then the message is deemed to be an open message to all users and no particular user will be informed of it's presence. Otherwise the named recipient will be informed of it's existence when he next logs on. When you have filled in the 'Subject' and 'Private?' options you are presented with a line editor for you to create your message with. The editor word wraps automatically. To end the message - enter a period ('.') at the start of a new line and press RETURN. The following editor options are presented after you have finished: (C)ontinue...Carry on where you left off. (E)dit.......Change the text on a selected line. (I)nsert.....Insert text at a specified line number. (D)elete.....Delete one or more lines of text. (L)ist.......List your text for viewing. (A)bort......Abort (don't send) the message and exit. (S)ave.......Save (send) the message and exit. When saved the message is date/time stamped and, if addressed to a named user, is marked and also if applicable. Note: If a user sends a message to the 'SYSOP' then the message will be directed to the user whose name has been entered in the 'Sysop's Name' field of the host mode configuration section. (R)ead......Read messages - you are prompted for a start number. You may read any message posted by you or to you or any other messages on the system which have not been marked by the sender. After reading a message you are offered the following options: (A)gain....Read the message again. (N)ext.....Read the next message. (Or use ENTER) (P)rev.....Read the previous message. (Or use ENTER) (R)eply....Reply to the message - message header created for you. The word 'Subject: ' in the header is replaced by the words 'Reply to: ' followed by the original subject description, to distinguish the reply from an original posting. Otherwise all is as described in (P)ost above. Replies have hidden links to originals so that related messages can be found via the (+) and (-) options described below. (K)ill.....Kill the message - ONLY those which you have sent or those addressed to you which are marked . (G)o.......Goto, and display, a message specified by it's number. (!)........Add the current message to the mailbag. (+)........Scan forward for related messages. (-)........Scan backwards for related messages. (?)........Help. (Q)uit.....Back to the main MESSAGE MENU. (S)can......Quick scan through message headers, in the CURRENT area only, - you are prompted for the start number. (N)ew.......Read all messages, in the CURRENT or ALL areas, posted since the current caller was last on. All the options available under (R)ead above, apply. The caller is offered a date mask which can be accepted, in which case New messages since the callers last visit are shown, or overtyped with another date, to display all messages posted since the user entered date. (B)at.......Enter the full featured message batching section. The following options are available to facilitate the manipulation and downloading of the mailbag: (A)ll......Add ALL messages in the CURRENT message area,to the mailbag. (N)ew......Add new messages, in the CURRENT or ALL areas, posted since the callers last log- on, to the mailbag. The caller is offered a date mask which can be accepted, in which case New messages since the callers last visit are batched, or overtyped with another date, to collect all messages posted since the user entered date. (R)ange....Add a specified range of messages, in the CURRENT area only, to the mailbag. (P)review..Preview the contents of the mailbag. (D)ownload.Download the mailbag - the caller is asked if he wants the mailbag archiving if the Sysop has created the optional 'BATCH.BAT' file in the 'Host Main Path' directory. (U)p.......Upload the reply mailbag. (Initially disabled). See the documentation with third party mailers for details. (S)ize.....Display the current size of the mailbag. (C)lear....Clear out the mailbag for a fresh start. (?)........Help. (Q)uit.....Quit to the previous menu. (F)ind......Find messages which match a message header mask. The following three line search mask is presented to be filled in by the caller: From: To: Subject: An empty field will match with anything. Field entries are not case sensitive and need not be full words. For example to find all messages from HARRY JONES to anyone about WS3000 modems, a suitable mask would be: From: HARRY JONES To: Subject: WS3000 If all three fields are left empty, the find operation is aborted. When a message has been found the caller can respond with a sub-set of the options available when reading messages via the (R)ead option but only messages matching the mask will be shown. Pressing 'Q' quits back to the full (R)ead menu with the full range of options once more made available. (K)ill......Kill a selected message. You can ONLY kill those message posted by you or those messages which are addressed to you AND marked private. (C)hat......Page the Sysop for a chat. (X)tra......Access the message area's Xtra door utilities. (?).........Help on the message commands. (Q)uit......Quit back to the main menu. Sysop Extras Messages posted by the person named as Sysop in the configuration section, and addressed to ALL, are included in each caller's personal mail check upon entering the board - subject to the usual area access restrictions and excluding first time callers. This provides a means for the Sysop to ensure that such messages are seen by every caller with access to that area. The following extra powers are available to anyone who enters the special Sysop Password when entering the system. The Sysop can (R)ead and (K)ill any message, without restriction. Using the main message menu's (K)ill option, the Sysop may optionally delete a range of messages. Messages between the first specified number and the second specified number INCLUSIVE are deleted. This mechanism will even remove messages which have 'lost' their text files. When reading or scanning messages, the sysop is shown a number in square brackets after the message number (e.g. [132]). This is the actual message file number (e.g. 14.MSG, 125.MSG etc.) which contains the text of the message. This will not necessarily be the same as the message number. This would, for example, enable the Sysop to alter text in messages whilst outside the host mode if he desires. A second number, separated by a colon from the first, is also included IF the 'Board Identity' field has been filled in by the Sysop (e.g. [132:126]). This is the link number to connect related messages and is only included for use by the new offline mailer designed specifically for EaziHost v2.x. The Door Menu (O)pen......Open a specified door. (L)ist......List the door programs available. (?).........Help. (Q)uit......Quit to the main menu. The Options Menu (A)nsi........Enables a caller to turn ANSI displays On/Off - the selection is saved in the callers record in USER.HST. (H)ot-key.....Enables the user to select single key press option selection (should only be used on very clean lines). The selection is saved in USER.HST. (E)xpert......Enables the caller to select the short 'Expert' menus - the selection is saved in USER.HST. (P)assword....Enables a caller to change his password - the new password is saved in USER.HST. (F)ullEditor..Enables the caller to select the optional full screen ANSI editor. (C)hat........Page the Sysop for a chat. (?)...........Help. (Q)uit........Quit back to the main menu. Sysop Extras When the Sysop selects (O)ptions, he is asked to enter a user's name. If he enters his own Sysop name or types 'SYSOP' he can change his own options just as any other user can. If he enters any other existing user's name he can change that user's options. If he enters a non-existant user's name, he is asked if he wants to introduce a new user of that name to the board. If he answers 'Y'es, the user's name is added to USER.HST along with the following default settings: Password PASSWORD Access Level 0 Time Left Current level 0 time limit Last Date On - Last Time On - ANSI Displays No Full-screen Editor No Hot Keys No Expert Menus No The Sysop should now change these settings, particularly the password which must be changed to that agreed with the prospective user, in the usual way from the (O)ptions menu. Any new user introduced in this way will still be treated as a new user when he actually logs onto the system himself for the first time - apart from the initial Name/Password sequence in which he is treated like an established user. For example he will still be shown the NEWUSER.HST file if it exists. These features will be particularly handy for those running a closed system. The Log-off Countdown When a user logs off, either via (G)oodbye or automatically after a download, a visible 5 second countdown is initiated. If the caller presses RETURN within this period he will cancel the auto log-off and stay online. This is useful if the caller either changes his mind or a download aborts unexpectedly for any reason. The countdown can be cut short by pressing Ctrl C. SPECIAL HOST MODE FILES XXXXXXXX.XXX These are text files which can be created by the system operator, to enable users to see a description of each file available for download. Each download directory made accessible to callers needs it's own 'XXXXXXXX.XXX' file. These are standard ASCII text files. Each file name and description must occupy just one line. The same file is used for both ANSI and TELETYPE users and the special control codes described elsewhere, may be used to colour the output for the ANSI callers. The maintenance of 'XXXXXXXX.XXX' is manually carried out by the Sysop, who's responsibility it is to make sure that it actually reflects the files on offer in it's download directory. NEWUSER.HST If this file has been created in the 'Host Main Path', then it is displayed to a NEW USER immediately after he logs on. You can provide any guidance which you feel necessary for new users here. No separate ANSI file is provided but the special '^' codes can be used to colour the output for ANSI users. NOTICE.HST If this file has been created in the 'Host Main Path', then it is displayed to a user immediately after he logs on. You can post any special notices which you want everyone to see here. The same file is shown to ANSI and TTY callers - the '^' special codes are supported. LOGOFF.HST If this file has been created in the 'Host Main Path', then it is displayed to a user immediately before he logs off. The same file is shown to ANSI and TTY callers - the '^' special codes are supported. MESSLOGO.ANS MESSLOGO.TXT If multiple message areas have NOT been defined via 'MESSAGES.HST', and either of these files is created in the 'Host Main Path', the the appropriate one is displayed to the user the FIRST time he enters the MESSAGE section in any one session. The file is not displayed on subsequent visits to the section within the same session. Any special message or logo can be included in this way. The same logic is used as in the case of WELCOME.ANS/TXT as to which file (ANS/TXT) will be displayed. In the case of multiple message areas, each area may have it's own logo defined within MESSAGES.HST. FILELOGO.ANS FILELOGO.TXT If multiple download file areas have NOT been defined via 'FILES.HST', this is provided to serve the same purpose as the MESSLOGO files described above, but is shown when entering the FILES section. If multiple download areas have been defined, each area has it's own logo specified in 'FILES.HST' D I R E C T C O N N E C T I O N Setting Up Two computers may be connected together directly using a null modem cable. If EaziHost is run on machines connected this way, it detects the null modem connection and takes appropriate action. If host mode is entered, pressing 'N'ull modem will put EaziHost on-line - the communications parameters will be 8-N-1, Xon/Xoff and the baud rate as set in the 'Baud Rate' field of the host mode configuration section. Remember that the communications parameters at each end MUST be the same. Please note that EaziHost always uses Xon/Xoff handshaking and the other computer must be set to use Xon/Xoff if the link is to be fully reliable. Uses A null modem direct connection, as described above, can be used to test out EaziHost in a more realistic way than using the 'L'ocal test option. Files may be transferred from one machine to the other using the installed file transfer protocols such as DSZ or the supplied ELX. Use the highest baud rate at which your set-up works reliably, at both ends, - the top two baud rates, 19200 and 38400, will generally only be of use with a direct connection. (See APPENDIX A for Null Modem Cable information) G E N E R A L Call Connection It is important that the modem does NOT keep DCD raised at all times. Set your modem registers to ensure that it does not. Note: Your modem MUST drive the DCD pin correctly, i.e. normally low and raised only when a connection has been made, DCD will be monitored throughout the on-line session and EaziHost will recycle automatically, if the carrier signal is lost, either accidentally or normally on termination of the connection. If the DCD pin is NOT driven correctly, i.e. never raised, and a connection is established as a result of a CONNECT string, EaziHost will go on-line for a moment but will then drop back out to it's 'waiting' state again. Command Line Options EaziHost can be forced to load from DOS and wait for a call or even load from DOS and go online at a selected baud rate by means of the '/H' command line parameter. If EaziHost is required to go online, a two digit baud rate number may follow '/H'. For example: C:>eazihost /h would invoke EaziHost and leave it ready to answer a call. Whereas: C:>eazihost /h12 would force EaziHost to load and go online at 1200 baud. This feature enables EaziHost to work with a separate front door which answers a call and then passes control to EaziHost - without dropping the line. This is referred to as 'Slave Mode'. The two digit baud rates are 30, 12, 24, 48, 72, 96, 14, 19 and 38, representing 300, 1200, 2400, 4800, 7200, 9600, 14400, 19200 and 38400 baud respectively. When run with a baud rate parameter, EaziHost always returns to DOS when the caller logs off. NOTE: 12000 bps must be passed in full - i.e. 'eazihost /h12000' If EaziHost is to be run as a door from another system, a '+' symbol must be appended to the baud rate digits to tell EaziHost not to drop the line on exit: C:>eazihost /h12+ When used in slave mode with a fixed DTE, EaziHost should be brought up using the line speed to ensure the correct %LineSpeed variable value within the program. Video Options Certain video adapter related features can be controlled by setting VIDEO= FLAGS in the environment, where FLAGS is a string of options drawn from the following: s+ Suppresses snow generated on certain colour adapters. c- Turns colour off. All output is then monochrome. b+ Use BIOS for all screen output. Machines with Mono EGA displays and some near compatibles will be able to use the program using this flag. For example the DOS command - 'SET VIDEO= s+c-' will turn snow suppression on and colour off. Special keys During user inputs the following editing keys are available: ^Y Delete all input from the line for a clean start. Cursor Right Move right one character position Cursor Left Move left one character position HOME Jumps to the start of the input END Jumps to the end of the input INS Toggle insert/overwrite mode On/Off DEL Delete the character under the cursor BACKSPACE Delete the character to the left of the cursor RETURN Accept the input ESC Abort the input The ESC key generally cancels activities, leaving current entries unchanged, aborting operations, returning from hardware error messages etc. Note: Certain message base operations can be substantially speeded up by assigning plenty of buffers in CONFIG.SYS. If in doubt try setting 'buffers=40' in CONFIG.SYS and re-boot. RELEASE HISTORY Apr 1990 EaziHost v1.0 released. Apr 1990 EaziHost v1.1 Aug 1990 EaziHost v1.2 Mar 1991 EaziHost v1.3 Jan 1992 EaziHost v2.0 Feb 1992 EaziHost v2.1 Details of changes can be found in the READ.ME file. APPENDIX A Null Modem Cable The following pin connections in a null modem cable will enable EaziHost to work as described in the manual when one computer is connected directly to another: PC/XT PC/XT TX 2 ------------ 3 RX 3 ------------ 2 RTS 4 ------------ 5 CTS 5 ------------ 4 GND 7 ------------ 7 DSR 6 ------------ 20 DCD [8--20] [8--20] (Wire pin 8 to 20 locally) DTR 20 ----------- 6 This set-up ensures that DCD is held high allowing EaziHost to automatically detect a null modem connection and stay on-line. No special 'direct connection' option is provided or needed within the software itself. ADDENDUM Changes/additions made after the manual was printed. File descriptions - Page 36 A file description in a XXXXXXXX.XXX file, used to describe the contents of the files made available for download, may now consist of any number if lines. The '&' symbol must be added to the end of each line which is followed by a continuation line - like this: EHOST20.ZIP 220K The latest EaziHost v2.0 bulletin board& package from SandSoft. Easy to set up and& maintain. The board's (L)ist facility will correctly display all lines connected by the '&' in this way when a search string matches with any line in the group. The '&' symbols are, of course, not shown in the listing on-screen.