(tm) EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEE EEEE EEEE EEEE EEEE EEEE EEEE EEEE EEEE EEEE EEEE EEEE EEEE EEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEE EEEE EEEE EEEE EEEE EEEE EEEE EEEE EEEE EEEE EEEE EEEE EEEE EEEE EEEE EEEE EEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE S Y S O P S D O C U M E N T A T I O N Version 3.00 Electronic Information System (tm) (c) Copyright Justin Langseth 1989,1990 Justin Langseth 12 Thirteenth Avenue Warwick, RI 02886-8428 RelayNet: Node-EISHQ Support/Demo BBS: East Coast BBS (401)732-2169 24 hours, 300-2400 bps page 1 INTRODUCTION ============================================================================== This is the Sysop's Manual. It explains the installation and setup of the EIS BBS System, as well as information that would be of value to EIS sysops. MANUAL #1 -- SYSOPS MANUAL SYSOP.DOC Explains the setup, installation, and maintenance of an EIS BBS system. Includes a step-by-step installation guide and sysop's tutorial. Read this manual first. MANUAL #2 -- UTILITIES MANUAL UTIL.DOC The utilities manual explains the operation of the programs that have been designed to work with EIS, including UTIL, PACK, UTI, FOSSIL, MEGAMAIL, PCRELAY, and DOORMASTER. While this is more of a reference guide, it does provide tutorials in the use of these programs with EIS. MANUAL #3 -- THE BOOK OF "E" EBOOK.DOC This manual explains the role of EIS "E" files. It then offers a series of tutorials that will teach you enough of the "E" language to comfortably start making changes to your BBS's "E" files, and to start writing new ones. The tutorials are designed for the non-programmer. A reference section is next, which includes a detailed description of all the "E" commands. page 2 SHAREWARE VERSION LICENSE AGREEMENT ---------------------------------------------- 1. EIS is NOT and never was Public Domain. 2. You may duplicate the ShareWare version under the following circumstances only: a) For Archival Backup b) To install on a hard disk or working floppy disk c) To give to a friend or associate to try d) To upload to any Bulletin Board System where other ShareWare programs are distributed. e) To sell by a Shareware Dealer. The fee that the Shareware Version is sold for should not be more than the cost of the diskette(s), shipping, packaging, and testing expenses. This should reasonably be under $7 per diskette. f) To upload to a for-profit or otherwise information system. 3. After a short evaluation period (no more than 20 days), you must either register your copy of EIS (more later), or delete or destroy your copies. 4. You may not modify, hack, disassemble, or otherwise reverse- engineer EIS at any time. 5. Justin Langseth will not be liable in any way for lost data, time, equipment, profits, etc. that is caused by the use or inability to use EIS. 6. No Warranties, expressed or implied, are make for EIS. 7. Any violation of the above items will lead to the termination of this agreement. BY USING EIS YOU DEMONSTRATE THAT YOU HAVE READ, AGREE TO, AND WILL ABIDE BY THESE RESTRICTIONS. page 3 REGISTERING EIS ------------------------ If you plan to use EIS for longer than a short testing period, you must register the program. Registration allows you to legally use EIS. To register, print out the order form found in Appendix A of this document or just send a check for $119 to: Justin Langseth 12 Thirteenth Avenue Warwick, RI 02886-8428 Within two weeks you will receive a package from us either via USMail or UPS Ground (unless you specify otherwise on the order form). This package will contain three diskettes with the registered version. Pursue the information accompanying the diskettes as to how to upgrade from the Shareware version. If you prefer, we can arrange for your registration files to be placed on the support BBS for downloading. These files are only about 2K, and you just have to copy them over your existing files in \EIS, without changing your EXE file or your data. Note this on your registration form along with the user name on the support BBS to receive the files. These requests are usually processed the same day. The registered version is functionally equivalent to the Shareware version, except for the fact that the notification of shareware is not displayed to you or your callers. We will always send the most recent version of EIS with the registration package. You will also be eligible for support in the Private section of our EIS support BBS, where you will get longer and faster replies for one year from date of shipment. You will be eligible for free or reduced-cost future upgrades of EIS. Minor upgrades will be available to owners of the most recent major upgrade on the support BBS, or will be mailed for a nominal fee. Note that ALL upgrades to EIS made within a year of your registration, will be provided free on the BBS or mailed for a small fee. We also sponsor a newsletter for EIS Sysops, produced several times a year. See Appendix A for more information on the other programs and options that you can purchase along with EIS. These prices are subject to change without notice. page 4 ----------------------------------------------- T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S ----------------------------------------------- SECTION A: INTRODUCTION TO EIS v3.0 =================================== What is EIS..................................................... 5 Whats new in version 3?......................................... 5 System Requirements............................................. 6 SECTION B: INSTALLATION ======================= Step 1: Copying Files........................................... 7 Step 2: Installing Text Files................................... 8 Step 3: Creating Data Files..................................... 8 SECTION C: FIRST LOGIN ====================== Sysop New User Login............................................ 9 Changing Access Level........................................... 10 On-Line Function Keys........................................... 10 Send the first message.......................................... 11 SECTION D: ROUTINE SYSTEM MAINTENANCE ===================================== Message base setup.............................................. 12 Message base maintenance........................................ 14 File area setup and operation................................... 14 File transfer protocols......................................... 15 SECTION E: MENU AND TEXT FILE MAINTENANCE ========================================= Modifying Text Files............................................ 16 Basic "E" File Maintenance...................................... 18 Customizing Menus............................................... 19 Adding new Menus................................................ 20 SECTION F: ANSI GRAPHICS CREATION AND SETUP =========================================== ANSI Prompts and Text........................................... 21 ANSI Menus and Text Files....................................... 22 Terminal Type Branching......................................... 22 SECTION G: INSTALLING DOORS =========================== Installing Doormaster........................................... 23 Modifying DOORS.E & DOORS.MEN................................... 24 Making Batch Files.............................................. 24 SECTION H: MULTINODE OPERATION ============================== General Setup................................................... 25 The EIS.NET file................................................ 25 page 4.5 APPENDIX A: REGISTRATION ======================== Basic Registration.............................................. 26 Developer's Toolkit............................................. 27 Personal Customization.......................................... 28 Registration Form............................................... 29 page 5 ------------------------------------------------------- SECTION A: INTRODUCTION TO EIS v3.0 ------------------------------------------------------- EIS is a remote information management system. Like a Bulletin Board System, people can call the system running EIS with their modems from their computer. Once they connect to the EIS System, they are able to retrieve information in the form of text files, downloads, and electronic mail. The way that the information is stored and presented is designed by the Sysop, who runs the EIS system. Using the powerful "E" Language, the sysop can make their EIS system do exactly what they want. Because of this flexibility, EIS can be used for a variety of purposes from a traditional BBS system, a catalog and order entry system, an information database, or a communications center for a busy organization. Whats new in Version 3.0? ============================================================================== EIS v3 is a rewrite in the C language of EIS v2.0, which was in Pascal. It is faster and more flexible, with many new features. All of the internal databases are now in Paradox Table format, which was chosen for ease of maintenance, speed, and integrity in a multi-user situation. Here is a list of some of the other major new features: o Everything that EIS does is controlled and can be modified by the sysop. For example, the menu system can consist of one menu or many menus, the new user questionnaire can be tailored to the individual sysop's needs, adding or omitting questions. o A new ANSI Editor has been added for enhanced message entry. This editor works in the local login mode and works remotely with callers with ANSI Terminal Emulation software, like Qmodem or Procomm. o Files can now be downloaded in batches using a protocol like Zmodem or Ymodem-Batch. This allows the user to specify which files are to be downloaded all at once, instead of issuing new commands between each download. o The new message base packing program can remove by message number or by message age. It also packs the base to remove messages that have been killed, saving space in the file. Also, message bases can now automatically be packed when a message is saved. o The new MegaMail off-line message reader is supported via EIS's new Revision II UTI drivers. This also enhances its support of the PCRelay BBS Networking system. o The modem i/o is now handled by FOSSIL drivers. This enhances EIS ability to work with non-standard communications port setups and modems. EIS comes with a standard FOSSIL driver, and there are others available for Tandy, Zenith, and other non-standard machines, as well as a version for high-speed modems. page 6 o Support for a new communications program to automate and enhance the overall BBSing experience with pull-down menus and high-res graphics. There are many more modifications too numerous to mention in the operations of the commands and the structures of the data files. EIS v3.0 is a great improvement over v2.0. System Requirements =========================================================================== The following hardware and software is required to run an EIS BBS: 1) An IBM XT, AT, or PS/2 compatible computer. Some "compatibles" like Tandy 1000 and Zenith models require special modem drivers. 2) 512K Memory recommended for full use of Doors and extended file transfer protocols. 3) A hard disk drive. EIS takes about 600K of disk space before user files and message bases grow, not to mention downloads. It is possible to run EIS on one or two high-density floppy disks, but any serious system should be hard-disk based. 4) A 100% Hayes Compatible Modem, 300-38400 baud. EIS uses standard Hayes "AT" commands. If your modem claims to be Hayes Compatible but really is not, you may have to adjust the initialization strings. 5) MS or PCDOS v2.0 or higher. 2.0, 2.1, 3.1, or 4.01 are recommended, but any version should be fine. (Watch out for v3.2 and 4.00, they have bugs.) page 7 ------------------------------------------------------- SECTION B: INSTALLATION ------------------------------------------------------- Installing EIS is very simple, and consists of three steps. They are 1) Copying the Files, 2) Installing the Text Files, and 3) Setting up the communications parameters. Follow these steps in order, and if you run into problems, start again at the beginning: STEP 1: Copying the Files ============================================================================== You either have EIS on floppy disks or in archive files. In either case, copy the files from the EIS floppy disks or from the archive files into your \EIS directory, on any hard drive. Procedure: First make a directory for EIS. Change to the hard drive that you want to store your EIS files on and type: MD \EIS CD \EIS This will create an directory named \EIS and change the current directory to the EIS directory. Note that this directory must be named \EIS, and must be off the root directory of your hard drive. If you cannot have it on the root directory, use the SUBST command to make a virtual hard drive for the EIS files, and make sure to include the SUBST command in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Once you have created and changed to your new EIS directory, copy the files from your floppy disks to your \EIS directory. Assuming that you have three EIS disks (System & Install, Utilities, Documentation), first put the System & Install disk in drive A:, and type: COPY A:*.* C:\EIS If you are not installing EIS to your C drive, substitute your drive letter for the C:\EIS. Then remove the first disk, insert the second, and repeat the procedure. Then repeat again for the final disk. (If you downloaded EIS from a BBS system, dearchive all the EIS files and make sure they all get copied into the \EIS directory. You should have two or three EIS archives, labeled EIS30D1.ZIP, EIS30D2.ZIP, etc.) page 8 STEP 2: Making the Text Files ============================================================================== Once you have copied all the files, you have to run one of them. First make sure that you are still in your \EIS directory, type: CD \EIS Then type the following, making sure to include the "GO": TEXTINST GO Read the next screen and press Y. EIS will extract the text files, make directories for them under \EIS, and copy the files into the right directory. Then it removes the old archives. STEP 3: Making the Data Files & Setting up the Modem ============================================================================== After TEXTINST is done, run the UTIL.EXE program, to create the EIS data files and setup the modem configuration. Type: UTIL EIS will proceed to create all the necessary data files. If you ever accidentally (or willingly) delete an EIS data file, you can make a new one by running UTIL. When it's done, press return and you will be at the UTIL main menu. Manual #2, EIS Utilities, covers the use of this program in detail. For now, we will just change the modem settings. After UTIL creates the data files, press return to go to the UTIL main menu. From there, press F1 for BBS Configuration, then press F1 again for Modem and Communications Setup. On the next screen, change the communications port and baud rate to those of your modem, and press ESC to return to the Config menu, and again to return to the main util menu. From there, press ESCape once again to return to DOS. Now you are ready to run EIS. To start EIS from your EIS directory, type the following: BBS And press return. If this computer is going to be dedicated to the BBS, you should put: CD \EIS BBS In your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Note that EIS requires you have have your FILES= in your CONFIG.SYS to at least 20. See your DOS manual for information on putting FILES=20 in your CONFIG.SYS file. From here, continue with the next section, "First Login." page 9 ------------------------------------------------------- SECTION C: FIRST LOGIN ------------------------------------------------------- After you have loaded EIS with the BBS Command, EIS will initialize the modem and bring you to the "Waiting for Calls" screen. This screen is displayed while EIS is waiting for someone to call the system or to login locally. To login as the sysop (the person who will operate the system), press F1 from this screen. To exit EIS and return to DOS, press ESCape at this screen. Assuming that you have not yet logged into your system, press F1 to set up a sysop account. You will now go through the new user quest- ionnaire as if you had called the system for the first time as a user. The only difference will be that you will be asked if you want your user name to be "Sysop." Usually the Sysop uses the user name "Sysop." Answer the rest of the questions. Note now any questions that you would like to add, reword, or remove. For instance, many Sysops do not want the new users to be asked for their date of birth. If you don't want to, make a note of it and you will be able to change it later. At the password prompt, enter a password that you will use when you call your system from another computer. You will not need this password when you login locally with the F1 key, but you will need it when you call remotely. Make sure that this password is not obvious or easily guessed by someone trying to gain unauthorized access to your system. The safest password is a string of random numbers and letters, about eight characters long. For instance, "PASSWORD" would NOT make a good password, but "2DH@DH!8" would be an excellent choice. If you are going to be calling remotely a lot, make sure its something that you can remember. After you enter your password, your sysop account will be saved. From here you will be logged in as if you had called the system as a user. From now on, pressing F1 from the Waiting for Calls screen will log you in using the account that you have just created, without having to go through the QUESTIONNAIRE again. You will now see any login screens and statistics that your default interface displays, and will then proceed to the main menu. While you log in, take notes about anything that you would like to change -- you will have the opportunity later. page 10 CHANGING YOUR ACCESS LEVEL -------------------------- There are two ways to change your access level. You can either log off the BBS with the G)oodbye command and use UTIL, or you can use the on-line function keys. The UTIL method is covered in the EIS Utilities manual. Since you will be the Sysop of your BBS, you should have sysop access. Sysop access will allow you to read private mail, view private upload areas, and access all the message bases. A user has sysop access when they have user level 100. Right now you have user level 10, you can tell this by looking at the bottom of the screen on the status line. The number after LV: is your access level. To increase your access to level 100, press and hold down the F1 key until the level reaches 100. If you go over 100, use F2 to adjust your level downward. Another method of adjusting access levels is to hold down the CTRL key on your keyboard and press F1 or F2. Pressing CTRL-F1 raises your access level to 100, CTRL-F2 lowers it to 10. ON-LINE FUNCTION KEYS FOR EIS ----------------------------- The following function keys are active while a user is logged into EIS, either locally or remotely: F1 = Raise access level by one level F2 = Decrease access level by one level F3 = Raise time left by 5 minutes F4 = Decrease time left by 5 minutes F9 = Invoke local DOS Shell (type EXIT to return) F10 = Break into Sysop Chat with the User CTRL-F1 = Raise access level to 100 CTRL-F2 = Decrease access level to 10 CTRL-F3 = Raise time left to 1440 minutes CTRL-F4 = Decrease (or increase) timeleft to 10 minutes ALT-F5 = Instantly log-off the user on-line ALT-F6 = Instantly log-off and lockout the user on-line ALT-F7 = Drop carrier on user, no warning ALT-F8 = Display logoff request file to user page 11 SENDING THE FIRST MESSAGE ------------------------- During your first logon, it is a good idea to send the first message in the main message base. To do this, from the main menu, type "S" and press return. Press return at the "To:" prompt to send the message to all the users, and make the subject something like "Welcome to xxxx BBS". If you have ANSI.SYS loaded in your CONFIG.SYS file, say "Y" at the ANSI editor prompt. If you don't, say "N". Use the editor to write a short welcome message like the following: " Welcome to Rainbow Consultants BBS, specializing in personal computer consulting. If you have any questions about the BBS, send them to me. I hope you find this BBS useful, Sysop " When you are done, save this message (CTRL-B for the ANSI editor, RETURN then S for the line editor). You are now free to look around your new BBS. Take notes on anything that you will want to change, as the next section, "Routine Maintenance" explains all the configuration options short of modifying "E" files, which is covered in "Efile Documentation." page 12 ------------------------------------------------------- SECTION D: MAINTENANCE ------------------------------------------------------- MESSAGE BASES SETUP AND OPERATION --------------------------------- Message bases and file areas are usually the most important aspects of a BBS. The message bases are used for exchange of messages from one user to another, or to a group or all of the users. Messages can contain information, chit-chat, ideas, debate, orders, or just about any other type of textual expression. Some message bases even contain color pic- tures using ANSI Graphics. Messages are grouped into different message bases. No two BBS's have exactly the same types and organization of their message bases. These message bases are really what differentiates one BBS from another. For instance, a BBS that was put up for the customers of a high-tech company might have message areas like "Technical Support", "Specifications", "Research & Development", and "Order Information." Your friendly neighborhood public BBS would probably not have these message bases. The users of the public BBS might be more interested in "Chit-Chat", "Debate", "Writers", and "Women's Issues". The users of a BBS that catered to pet owners would probably not be interested in "Women's Issues" or "Technical Support." They would be more interested in "Canary Care" and "Poodles". You get the idea. You probably realize that message bases contain messages about a certain topic, broad or specific. Having different message bases for different messages allows people to carry on conversations about a certain topic without having messages on a different topic interrupt their conversation. If you were reading "Poodles" you would hardly want to read a 100-line message about "The Middle East." The first step in setting up message bases for your BBS is to decide what the topics of your message bases should be. If you are starting a new BBS, five or six message bases is probably enough, as you do not want or over- whelm users with too many options. Also the more message bases, the fewer messages are posted in each one. If your BBS is already well-established you might have twenty or thirty message bases. Some of the largest BBS's in the country have over 300 message bases. You can have about two billion message bases with EIS. When you have chosen message base topics, write them down so you don't forget them. Then return to DOS (ESC if you are in EIS) and load the UTIL program. The operation of UTIL is covered in more detail in the Utilities Documentation. Load util and press any key to get to the main menu. Then press F3 for message base setup. You will see a list of all the message bases on your system. You probably only have one right now, the Main Base. To add your message bases, press CTRL-A. page 13 You will see a blank message base setup screen waiting to be filled in. Press the down arrow (unless you want to change the message base number, the next available number is automatically assigned), and type in the name of this message base. Then press return. The next field is the "Short Name" of this message base. A short name is one word that can be used to refer to this message base. If the name of the base is short, you can use that again here. If the name of the base is "Prince George County Events," a good short name might be "EVENTS". When you are done typing the short name press return again. Now type in the path for this message base. This path will be used to hold all of the files that are maintained for each message base, thus each message base must have a different path. You probably want to store these files in a directory under your "\EIS" directory. For the Events base that I just mentioned, I will choose the path "\EIS\EVENTS". This path does not have to currently exist, it will be created. Note that the \EIS directory must already exist, UTIL will only create one directory, it could not handle a path "\MB\EVENTS" unless you have already created a "\MB" directory. That's all there is to creating a message base. Unless you want to change something else on the screen, press ESC and press return at the "Save Changes" prompt. UTIL will create an empty message base ready to accept messages. If you want to add more message bases, do so now. If not, press ESC twice to return to DOS. Now that you have created the actual message base files and directories, you have to list that message base on the message base menu so that your users will know that it is available. From your \EIS directory, enter your \EIS\TEXT directory by typing "CD \EIS\TEXT" and press return. From there, use Edlin or your favorite text editor to edit BASELIST.TXT. Insert a line at the bottom of the file that contains the message base number of your new message base, its short name, and a description. For example: 2 EVENTS Events in Prince George County Might be a good example listing for the "Events" message base. Save the changes to this file, return to your "\EIS" directory, and load the BBS. Log in as the sysop, type C from the main menu to change message base, and then enter the short name or number of the new message base. When you get back to the main menu, press S and enter a welcome message for that message base, and then maybe enter a message to start the conversation. Other users will read your messages, reply to them, and maybe leave some of their own. This will start the cycle of reading other people's mail, replying to it, replying to replys, etc. This is a message base. page 14 MESSAGE BASE MAINTENANCE ------------------------ Once people being using a message base you will need to maintain it. This is very simple, and you can sometimes allow a trusted user to maintain a message base. The most basic form of maintenance is to read the messages that are sent in the message base and respond to them, to keep the conver- sation going and on-topic. When a message is posted that does not belong in a message base is posted, it should be deleted. The Sigop of a message base is responsible for this type of maintenance. When a BBS is small, generally the Sysop is the Sigop of all the message bases. But when the BBS grows and there are just too many messages for the Sysop to read and maintain, a Sysop can appoint a Sigop to monitor that message base and maintain it as described above. To appoint a Sigop, just add their name to the "Sigop:" field in UTIL's F3 section for that message base. You might want to raise the access level of that user as well. The next form of maintenance involves "packing" message bases. Packing makes the message base take up less room on your disk by removing old messages from the bottom of the message file. Removing these messages does not interfere with the newer messages. Most sysops keep between 100 and 500 messages in a message base, depending upon their available disk space. See the Utilities Documentation for information on using the PACK command to condense your message bases. FILE AREA SETUP AND OPERATION ----------------------------- File areas are used to organize the files that are available for download from your EIS system. Each file area corresponds to a directory on your hard disk that actually holds the files for that file area. Each file area can be protected by access level. File areas can be upload-only or download only. Each file area has a FILES.LST file in its directory which is used to keep a listing of the files in that directory along with their sizes, upload dates, and descriptions. The format of this file is up to you, but when a user uploads a line is added to the file in EIS's format. This file can contain any extra information about the available files that you find useful. FILES.LST can be edited by any standard text editor. To create a new file area, use the EIS Utilities program. See the Utilities Documentation for more information about creating file areas. Once the file areas are created, any user, depending on their access level, can view the FILES.LST file, upload to that file area, or download file it. To add files to a file area, either upload them, or copy them into the file area's direct- ory and add a line to FILES.LST to describe that file. If you wish to delete a file from a file area, delete both the actual file and its listing in that area's FILES.LST. File areas can be on any of your disk drives. It might be a good idea to use your slowest disk drive for file storage since they do not require constant access. The FILBASES.TXT file in your \EIS\TEXT directory contains a listing of all your file areas which you should edit when you make changes. page 15 FILE TRANSFER PROTOCOLS ----------------------- The following file transfer protocols are available for use with EIS: Xmodem - The original file transfer protocol, 128-byte blocks Xmodem CRC - Same as Xmodem, but uses CRC-16 bit error checking Xmodem 1K - Same as Xmodem CRC, but uses 1024 byte blocks Ymodem Batch - A Batch transfer protocol, sends more than one file Zmodem CRC32 - The best error-correcting protocol, crash recovery, and the new MobyTurbo supported. These protocols are used by EIS by running DSZ. DSZ is a file transfer engine available from almost every IBM BBS system, and from the EIS HQ BBS (number on the title page). To install DSZ, just copy DSZ.COM to your \EIS directory, and make sure that your COMMAND.COM file is in your DOS Path (or your \EIS directory). To run Zmodem, EIS runs ?_DOWN?.BAT and ?_UP.BAT files which are installed to your \EIS\BAT directory. The first ? represents the first call letter of the protocol (X=Xmodem, C=XmodemCRC, K=Xmodem1K, Y=YmodemBatch, Z=Zmodem). The second ? in the downloading batch protocols represent either S or B, for a single file or a batch transfer. EIS passes three parameters to these batch files: %1 = Communications port in use (1 or 2): NOTE: If you use non-standard ports, you must NOT rely on this parameter, but instead set up your batch files to use the proper communications port. See the Docs that come with DSZ for information. %2 = Baud Rate: (not necessary -- DSZ can usually detect the baud rate itself) %3 = The file name of either the list of files to be downloaded, or of the file to be uploaded. See the documentation that comes with DSZ for more information about the advanced features of DSZ. Support for other file transfer protocols will be added as they become available. page 16 ------------------------------------------------------- SECTION E: MENU AND TEXT FILE MAINTENANCE ------------------------------------------------------- MODIFYING TEXT FILES -------------------- There are over fifty text files that you can modify, or create, that are part of EIS's user interface. All you will need to edit these files is a standard text editor or a word processor that handles straight-ASCII text files. A popular Shareware text editor is QuickEdit, by Sammy Mitchell. It is available on IBM BBS systems around the world. There are many other fine text editors. EDLIN, that comes with DOS, will suffice, but you really should find something easier to use. Here are the names and locations of the various text files that you may wish to edit or create to customize your system. Note that all EIS text files should be saved without initial or trailing blank lines. In the \EIS\TEXT directory: AUTOOFF TXT - Displayed when local sysop presses ALT-F5 BASELIST TXT - List of messages bases for your BBS BULLET 1 - Bulletin Number 1 BULLET 2 - Bulletin Number 2 BULLET 3 - Bulletin Number 3 BULLET MEN - The menu of the bulletins available DOORS MEN - The menu of available doors EISTEXT 0 - Non-ANSI EIS Prompt file EISTEXT 1 - ANSI Prompt file FILBASES TXT - Menu of available file areas LEV10 TXT - Level 10 welcome message LEV100 TXT - Level 100 welcome message LEV1000 TXT - Level 1000 welcome message LOCKOUT TXT - Displayed when local sysop presses ALT-F6 LOGOFF TXT - Displayed after user elects to log off MAIN MEN - The Main Menu (called by MAINMENU.E) NEWUSER TXT - New User information/rules file NOJOIN TXT - Displayed if user elects not to join bbs PRELOG TXT - Shown before ANSI Graphics prompt at login PRENEW TXT - Shown before new users answer QUESTIONNAIRE PROTOB TXT - Menu of batch downloading protocols PROTOS TXT - Menu of single file downloading protocols PROTOU TXT - Menu of protocols available for uploading PWORD TXT - Displayed before a new user selects a password SCRIPT MEN - Menu of script/questionnaires available SHOWUSER TXT - Displayed when local sysop presses ALT-F8 WELC1 TXT - Welcome message (shown once a day to each user) In FILE AREA directories: FILES LST - Listing of files available in that directory. This is a free-form file, but uploads are added in the standard one-line format. page 17 In MESSAGE BASE directories: PRIVATE LST - List of users who can access that private base (note, be sure to include SYSOP) WELCOME TXT - Displayed to users upon joining that message base In your \EIS directory: AUDIT1 LOG - Audit trail of all activity on the BBS. May be deleted when it gets too big, EIS will make a new one by itself. BBS BAT - This file loads EIS. Only edit this to change the FOSSIL or doors setup, or the command line parameters for EIS. XFER LOG - Keeps a record of all uploads and downloads. Again, you may delete this when it gets too big, EIS will make a new one. In your \EIS\HELP directory: ???????? HLP - Various help files for your EIS interface In your \EIS\BAT directory: ?_DOWN? BAT - Downloading batch files (See page 15) ?_UP BAT - Uploading batch files (See page 15) Also note that you will come upon files with the same names except for the addition of a "C" on the front of the file. These are ANSI files, and are explained in section F of this manual. Two special files of note are EISTEXT.0 and EISTEXT.1, both in the \EIS\TEXT directory. They contain all the prompts that EIS uses in its internal commands that are not configurable through E Files. Feel free to edit these files too, but make sure to to add any extra lines or get them out of order, for if you do you may be prompted if you want to page the sysop in the middle of downloading a file! See the Section F on ANSI graphics for more information on EISTEXT.1. Feel free to edit these files as you see fit. Editing them is the easiest way to make your BBS different from any other. But if you want to make more serious alterations, see the next section, "Customizing E Files." page 18 BASIC E FILE MAINTENANCE ------------------------ While many of the prompts are in the EISTEXT files, others are stored in the E Files, which you can find in the \EIS\E directory. These are the files that instruct EIS on what to do once a user connects to the system. A whole manual (EBOOK.DOC) is devoted to E Files, which any serious sysop should read over. This section describes how to modify the prompts that are contained in the E Files. The following E Files may contain prompts that you might want to modify. They are all located in the \EIS\E directory: MAIN.E - Loaded right after connection. This file contains prompts that are used before login takes place. NEWUSER.E - Contains the prompts that run the new user QUESTIONNAIRE. This is also the file to edit to add questions or change existing questions in the QUESTIONNAIRE. LOGIN.E - Run before the main menu and after login. MAINMENU.E - This file contains the main menu and many of the commands that you can run from the main menu. DOORS.E - This file contains the doors menu and the information to load doors. SCRIPT.E - Contains the QUESTIONNAIRES L2RMENU.E - For future use with a special terminal program MEGAMAIL.E - Runs the MegaMail door These files may be edited with a standard text editor. If you see any text that you want to change, you may do so, but make sure to maintain any leading or trailing spaces, and do not change the rest of the lines, including the quotes that surround prompts, unless you have read EBOOK.DOC and know what you are doing. For example, here is a portion of NEWUSER.E: out(crlf,wht,"Your name must be at least two words long. You must use your"); out(crlf,wht,"real name. Aliases are not allowed.",crlf); jmp nameget; cityget: statline(24,1,0,7,&1); statline(25,58,0,7,"-> City & State "); out(crlf); out(yel,"Enter your city and state on the line below in this format:",crlf); cityagain: out(yel,"City, State: ",wht); prompt(2); If you wanted to change the line "City, State:" to "City, Province:", the only thing that you would have to change is the actual word State, not the surrounding quotes or commands. The modified lines would look like this: out(yel,"Enter your city and province on the line below in this format:",crlf); cityagain: out(yel,"City, Province: ",wht); If you wish to do more complicated maintenance, please review EBOOK.DOC, which will give you a complete understanding of the E-File System and will help you start modifying your E Files. page 19 CUSTOMIZING MENUS ----------------- This section is designed to help you start changing the look of your menus and the letters that the user enters at the prompts to activate commands. If you wish to actually change the commands available, or to change the structure of the menus (like make a new menu for message bases or file transfers), you will need to first review EBOOK.DOC. This section concentrates on the file \EIS\E\MAINMENU.E and \TEXT\MAIN.MEN. Here is the default \TEXT\MAIN.MEN file: 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴커 � Electronic Information System v3.0 Main Menu � 쳐컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴캑 � R)ead messages F)ile listings G)oodbye/logoff DO)or menu � � S)end a message D)ownload file I)nitial Welc AN)si toggle � � C)hange base U)pload a file O)perator page NE)ws file � � A)bandon to main L)ocate a file X)pert toggle VI)ew settings � � N)ew mail scan V)iew archive B)ulletins IN)terface � � P)assword change W)Statistics Q)uestionaires ME)gamail door � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴켸 If you wanted to change the way this text file was organized, without changing the actual command letters, you could do that without modifying MAINMENU.E. But let's consider changing the command to send a new message to "E" instead of "S". First we would modify line 5 of the MAIN.MEN file to reflect the change. Line 5 would become: � R)ead messages F)ile listings G)oodbye/logoff DO)or menu � � E)nter a message D)ownload file I)nitial Welc AN)si toggle � � C)hange base U)pload a file O)perator page NE)ws file � Now that you have modified the menu, you have to also modify the MAINMENU.E file so EIS knows that the new command to send a message is E instead of S. Here is the portion of \EIS\E\MAINMENU.E that is of interest. It begins on line 44: /* Mail Commands */ jequal(&0,"RA",readany); jequal(&0,"R",read); jequal(&0,"S",send); jequal(&0,"C",change); jequal(&0,"A",abandon); jequal(&0,"N",newscan); This is where EIS checks to see if the users has entered a command that would branch to a message command. We're interested in the forth line, the one that checks to see if the user has entered an "S". We want to change the S to an E. The revised line would be: jequal(&0,"E",send); For information on making more complicated modifications, see EBOOK.DOC. page 20 ADDING NEW MENUS ---------------- There are many additional menus that you can add to your EIS System. These are written by other sysops who decide to share their new menus with others. You can download some of them from the HQ BBS. Most of them come with their own documentation which tells you how to install them. For example, the MEGAMAIL.E file that is included in the default interface is an example of such a menu. Here are the lines in MAINMENU.E which call this menu: /* 2-Letter Commands */ jequal(&0,"VIEW",viewset); jequal(&0,"US",userlist); jequal(&0,"USER",userlist); jequal(&0,"ME",megamail); jequal(&0,"MEGA",megamail); jequal(&0,"L2R",l2r); ... megamail: audit("Megamail door loaded"); load("\eis\e\megamail.e",megamail); Most other additional menus will can be added in the same way. See the documentation that comes with the menus for more information. page 21 ------------------------------------------- SECTION F: ANSI GRAPHICS ------------------------------------------- ANSI PROMPTS AND TEXT --------------------- The file \EIS\E\EISTEXT.1 contains all the prompts that are used when EIS is in ANSI Graphics mode. EIS is in ANSI Graphics mode when the user variable user.interfac is set to 1. EISTEXT.1 contains the same prompts as in EISTEXT.0, but they contain ANSI color codes. The ANSI color codes are documented in your DOS Manual. You may modify EISTEXT.1 the same way as EISTEXT.0. If you want to alter the color codes, make sure you know how to insert valid codes. In the E Files, you will notice color codes (different from ansi codes) surrounding various prompts. Here is an example taken from LOGIN.E: out(off,yel,"User Statistics",crlf); out(yel,"-----------------------------",crlf); out(bld,yel,"First Call: ",wht,user.firston,CRLF); out(yel," Last Call: ",wht,user.lastdon," (",user.lastton,")",CRLF); out(yel,"# of Calls: ",wht,user.ntimeson,CRLF); out(yel,"Access Lev: ",wht,user.level,CRLF); out(yel," Uploads: ",wht,user.nups,CRLF); out(yel," Downloads: ",wht,user.ndowns,CRLF); out(yel," K Upload: ",wht,user.tkup,CRLF); out(yel,"K Download: ",wht,user.tkdown,CRLF); The "off", "yel", "bld", and "wht" are EIS color codes. They are only used when EIS is in ANSI Graphics mode, otherwise they are ignored. Here is a list of all the color codes: Colors: Commands: ------------------------------------- ---------------------------------- red - red text off - reset ANSI colors blu - blue text bld - use second (bold) colors grn - green text rev - reverse video yel - yellow text bnk - blinking text wht - white text blk - black text cyn - cyan text mag - magenta text To get out of bld, rev, or bnk mode you must use off. These attributes are carried from one color code to the next, so if you have a bld,blu on one line and the next line has a wht, you will get bold white. If you want non-bold white, you must use off,wht. page 22 ANSI MENUS AND TEXT FILES ------------------------- When EIS is told to display a text file while in ANSI mode, it will first check to see if there is a file of the same name but with a "C" before the actual file name. If EIS is told to display \EIS\TEXT\MAIN.MEN, it will check for the existence of \EIS\TEXT\CMAIN.MEN and display that instead, if it exists, when in ANSI mode. Provided with EIS are C)olor versions of many of the standard text files. There were created using a special program called TheDraw, which is available from the HQ BBS and most IBM BBS's around the world. Another popular ANSI editor is "Ansi of LA". When you save file with either editor, make sure to save them with a line length of 150. Line lengths large than that may cause problems with some computers. After making an ANSI file with TheDraw, use QuickEdit to edit out the blank lines that TheDraw adds to the end of the file. Quickedit is good for this because it handles ANSI codes without converting them to colors. Be aware that when you change a file in \EIS\TEXT that you should also change its ANSI counterpart. You can usually do this with QuickEdit, but if the modifications are major, use TheDraw. The documentation that comes with TheDraw explains ANSI files is more detail, and is a good reference for a sysop starting to learn about the world of ANSI files. BRANCHING ON TERMINAL TYPE -------------------------- In EIS E Files, you can include an identifier in front of a line that will only execute that line if the user is using a certain terminal type. For instance, if you had the line: out("Hi There"); you could make it only run that line when the user's terminal is set to ANSI mode if you used @1@ out("Hi There"); instead. On the other hand, @0@ out("You are NOT using ANSI"); would only execute if the user is not in ANSI mode. page 23 -------------------------------------------- SECTION G: INSTALLING DOORS -------------------------------------------- INSTALLING DOORMASTER --------------------- The first step in installing doors for use with EIS is to install DoorMaster. DoorMaster is a program that allows EIS to run doors designed for thirty different BBS systems. Doormaster is available from most EIS BBS systems, and from the HQ BBS. The Utilities documentation covers the installation of Doormaster is much greater detail, see UTIL.DOC. MODIFYING DOORS.E AND DOORS.MEN ------------------------------- To add a door to your BBS system, you must modify two files and create a third. First you must modify \EIS\TEXT\DOORS.MEN. Add a listing to this file for the door that you are going to add. For example, if you were going to add a door called BBSWATCH, you would add the following to your DOORS MENU FILE DOORS MENU ============================================================= BBSWATCH - Database of Bulletin Board Systems (example) Save this file (and modify the ANSI version, if you support ANSI). Then edit \EIS\E\DOORS.E. To add a door, follow this procedure: 1) Add door name to the menu: prompt(&0); upper(0); jequal(&0,"Q",quit); jequal(&0,"BBSWATCH",bbswatch); jequal(&0,"",quit); blank(1); out(red,"Invalid Command. Try again...",crlf); jmp doors; Note that we have added an entry here for "BBSWATCH". page 24 2) Create the procedure to drive the door: bbswatch: assign(40,"BBS"); jmp makedorinfo; backfrombbs: audit("BBSWatch door loaded"); out(crlf,yel,"BBSwatch Database loading...",crlf); g_cls; doortime1(9); saveuser; saveall("BBSWATCH.BAT"); clrscr; dstatl; doortime1(1); g_sub(2,&1,&9); g_div(3,&2,"60"); g_sub(0,user.timeleft,&3); set(timeleft,&0); out(yel,"Time spent in door: ",&3," minutes.",crlf); jmp doors; If your door is not named BBSWATCH, replace all the reference to BBSWATCH with the name of your door. When you have added this PROCEDURE, save the file. CREATING BATCH FILES -------------------- The last step to running a door is to create the batch file that will run it. Each doors file will be different. Here is the file to run BBSWATCH: C:\DOORS\DM DM WC \EIS\ \DOOR\BBSWATCH\ CD \DOORS\BBSWATCH BBSWATCH BBSWATCH.CFG CD \EIS BBS BACKIN Everything up to the last two lines will depend on what type of DOOR you will be loading. The last two will be the same for all doors. BBS BACKIN loads EIS and continues running where it left off by running the door. page 25 -------------------------------------------- SECTION H: MULTINODE OPERATION -------------------------------------------- GENERAL SETUP ------------- Running multi-node is as easy as with one node. You will need to create a different configuration file for each node with UTIL, and a different BBS.BAT file. The major change in the BBS.BAT if you need to add something after the call to EIS. Change that line to: EIS /N### where ### is the node number of that node. That's all there is to it. EIS will automatically create and maintain all the necessary files. It's that simple. If you run into any problems, send us a note on the support BBS and we'll help you out. THE EIS.NET FILE ---------------- This file is created by EIS when you run it for the first time. It contains the paths for all the various data files that EIS uses, like users and mbases. It also contains the network type selection, which you may have to change depending on your type of LAN. page 26 ------------------------------------------- APPENDIX A: REGISTRATION ------------------------------------------- If you plan on using EIS for longer than a short evaluation period, you must register your copy of EIS. There are two easy ways to register EIS v3.00, through the mail or by credit card. To order through the mail, fill out the form at the end of this section and print it out. Send it with payment in full to the address on the form. You must send a check or money order payable in US Dollars, written out to "Justin Langseth." You will RECEIVE your order via Priority Mail (US Domestic) within a week. International orders are shipped via Air Mail. If you would rather order with your Mastercard or Visa, you may place your order through the Public Software Library, which takes orders and forwards them to the author for immediate shipment. You will RECEIVE your order within a week. Call the Public Software Library toll-free at 1-800-242-2775 from the US, or at (713)524-6394 from overseas. Order a "Registered Copy of EIS v3.00 at $119." PSL also sells the shareware version of EIS, so be sure to specify that you want a registered copy. PSL takes Mastercard and Visa. Ordering through PSL is the best bet for international orders to avoid hassles of securing a check from a US Bank. PSL only accepts orders for the basic EIS Package. To order the developer's toolkit or multi-node upgrades, use the upgrade form that comes with your order. All orders are shipped within a week of receipt by either Priority Mail (2-day delivery) ot International Air Mail. To upgrade EIS v3.0 from the shareware version to the registered version, all you need to do is copy the EIS.EXE and REG.DB files from the Registered Disk over your existing files. Registration disables the Shareware Notice at login. page 27 ------------------------------------------- Developer's Toolkit ------------------------------------------- The EIS Developer's Toolkit is for people who are interested in writing programs to work with EIS. This includes DOORS, message base and user utilities, off-line readers, or anything that has to access EIS Files. The Developer's Toolkit contains the file formats for all of EIS's data files (except REG.DB). Included are the actual procedures that are used in the EIS code to access the messages and users data files, as well as code to read the configuration and text data files. Also included is access to the private EIS Developer's message are on the support BBS where you can ask questions directly to the author of EIS. The Developer's toolkit is a necessary addition to anyone interested in developing for EIS past the level of basic E Files. page 28 ------------------------------------------- Personal Customization Service (PCS) ------------------------------------------- The personal customization service is provided to assist sysops who want to set up a highly customized BBS with minimal effort. Along with your order, or later, send a written description of the way you would like your BBS to look and operate. Include sample screens, menus, commands, and QUESTIONNAIRES. We will change your english description to E-Language files that you may modify. Your description may be as detailed as you wish, or you may leave it up to us to work out the specifics. Either send your description with your order or later. PCS requests are processed and shipped within two weeks of RECEIPT of your description. If necessary we will make small changes to the source code to handle your request. More information about writing your description will be included with your order. Simply fill out the following information and include it with your order form when your order EIS. You are welcome to order the PCS service after having received your registered copy of EIS. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PCS ORDER FORM: I would like to order ____ PCS separate customizations at $249 per customization. Add this total to your order form when ordering EIS. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Code:PCSIG =============================================================================== ELECTRONIC INFORMATION SYSTEM v3.00 REGISTRATION FORM =============================================================================== SHIP TO: MAIL TO: __________________________________________ name Justin Langseth 12 Thirteenth Avenue __________________________________________ Warwick, RI 02886-8428 company United States of America __________________________________________ address __________________________________________ city,state,zip,country ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Please send _____ registered copies of EIS 3.00 at $119 per copy. Please send _____ copies of the EIS v3.00 Developer's Toolkit at $49 per copy. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Add to my copy(s) of EIS 3.00 the following options: _____ 3-Node Upgrade at $59 per copy of EIS v3.00. _____ 6-Node Upgrade at $99 per copy of EIS v3.00. _____ 9-Node Upgrade at $149 per copy of EIS v3.00. _____ 999-Node Upgrade at $259 per copy of EIS v.300. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ____ If you are subscribing to the Personal Customization Service, check here and include the PCS order form which can be found in the Appendix of the Sysop's manual. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ____ Copies of EIS Version 3.00 at $119.00 per copy = ______________ ____ Copies of the Developer's Toolkit at $49.00 each = ______________ Extra Node Upgrades Total = ______________ Total from PCS Order Form (optional) = ______________ Total = ______________ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------