The TriTel Bulletin Board System Version 1.1 Copyright (c) 1991 By Mark D. Goodwin COPYRIGHT NOTICE ---------------- TriTel is a copyrighted program being distributed under the shareware concept. As such, you may operate a TriTel Bulletin Board System for a period of 30 days without registering the software. After the 30 day evaluation period, you must register your copy of TriTel or you will be in violation of United States and International copyright laws. As a shareware program, TriTel may be freely distributed through a BBS. Shareware distributors may distribute copies of TriTel on disk for a modest disk duplication charge not to exceed $6 per disk. WARRANTY -------- TriTel is distributed without warranty. In no event will Mark Goodwin be liable to you for damages, including any loss of profits, lost savings, or other incidental or consequential damages arising out of your use of or inability to use the program, even if Mark Goodwin or an authorized representative has been advised of the possibility of such damages. Mark Goodwin will not be liable for any such claim by any other party. TRADEMARKS --------- IBM is a registered trademark of IBM Corporation Microsoft, MS, and MS-DOS are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation The TriTel Bulletin Board System i TABLE OF CONTENTS ---------------- INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 REQUIREMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 INSTALLATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Modifying BOARD.BAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Getting TriTel to Run on Boot Up . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 The Menu Configuration Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Your First Log On . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 THE WAITING FOR CALLER SCREEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 The Waiting for Caller Screen Menu . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Drop to DOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Configure Modem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Edit Conferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Local Logon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Edit Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Edit Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Configure System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Edit File Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 View Callers Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Exit TriTel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 The Modem Status Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 The Statistics Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Screen Blanking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 DISPLAY SCREENS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Control Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Log On and Goodbye Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Security Specific Log On Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 User Specific Log On Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 New User Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Bulletin Menu and Bulletins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Main Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Message Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 File Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Door Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Door Bulletin Menu and Door Bulletins . . . . . . . . . 30 Questionnaire Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Sysop Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Making Your Own Display Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 THE TRITEL MENU SYSTEM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 The Bulletin Menu Configuration File . . . . . . . . . . 32 The Main Menu Configuration File . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 The Message Menu Configuration File . . . . . . . . . . 37 The File Menu Configuration File . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 The Door Menu Configuration File . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 The Door Bulletin Menu Configuration File . . . . . . . 48 The Questionnaire Menu Configuration File . . . . . . . 50 The TriTel Bulletin Board System ii The Sysop Menu Configuration File . . . . . . . . . . . 53 FILE LISTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 EXTERNAL PROTOCOLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Send Batch Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Receive Batch Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Path Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 RUNNING TRITEL WITH A FRONTEND OR AS A DOOR . . . . . . . . . 61 ARCHIVE TESTING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 TestZIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 ODDS AND ENDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Obnoxious Callers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Daily Limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Special Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Packing the Message Base . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 SUPPORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 REGISTRATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 FILE FORMATS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 SYSDAT.DAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 USERS.DAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 MCONF.DAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Mnnnn.PTR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Mnnnn.IDX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Mnnnn.TXT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Mnnnn.LMR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 FAREA.DAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 EVENTS.DAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 TRITEL RELATED PROGRAMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Third Party Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 The TriTel Bulletin Board System 1 INTRODUCTION ------------ TriTel is one of the newest Bulletin Board Systems around. Although TriTel is a relatively new BBS, it comes equipped with many powerful features: Internal Zmodem - Not many other Bulletin Board Systems can claim this one. By offering Zmodem as an internal protocol, the sysop is relieved from having to set it up as an external protocol. Furthermore, the boards overall operation is enhanced, because TriTel doesn't have to shell out to DOS to call the external protocol driver. Net Mail - TriTel's message base structure provides extensive support for net mail conferences. A Revision 2 UTI is available for TriTel to support PCRelay. With PCRelay, a TriTel board can join any of a number of PCRelay- based networks: RelayNet, Intelec, etc. Doors - TriTel can internally generate the door data files to run most PCBoard, GAP (DOOR.SYS), and Spitfire doors. By supporting these three major standards, TriTel can run pretty much any door program. By generating the door data files internally, TriTel relieves the sysop from setting up a collection of door data file conversion utilities. Archive Testing - TriTel allows you to optionally test all uploaded ZIP files to see if they were uploaded without errors and scan the archives' files for viruses. One of TriTel's chief design goals is ease of installation and maintenance. Some of the above listed features, such as internal Zmodem and internal generation of door data files, have already pointed out some of the reasons why TriTel is so easy to use. Other TriTel features include generation of security level specific menu screens on the fly and the ability to run an almost unlimited number of sliding and nonsliding events. Overall, you should find TriTel to be one of the easiest Bulletin Board Systems to use. The TriTel Bulletin Board System 2 REQUIREMENTS ------------ TriTel requires an IBM PC or compatible computer with at least 256K of memory, a modem, and a hard disk drive. Although it would be possible to set up a small TriTel BBS on a floppy disk based system, it really wouldn't be of much practical use. Therefore, a floppy disk based TriTel board isn't recommended. The TriTel Bulletin Board System 3 INSTALLATION ------------ The first step in using any computer program is to install it. You probably acquired your copy of TriTel from a BBS or online service and have obviously uncompressed the file archive. The next step you must take is to make a TriTel subdirectory on your hard disk. If your hard disk is your C: drive, you could do this by entering the following at the DOS command prompt: MD C:\TRITEL Next you should copy all of the files that were included in the TriTel archive to this new subdirectory. This can be accomplished with the following command: COPY *.* \TRITEL Now you must can delete the TriTel archive files in your current directory by entering the following command: DEL *.* IMPORTANT: Be sure there aren't any other non-TriTel files in your current directory before you enter the above command. If you don't check for other files, you will lose them. If there are other non-TriTel files in your current directory, you will have to delete the TriTel files one at a time. The next step is to change to the newly created TriTel directory. This can be done with the following command: CD \TRITEL Now you must initialize your TriTel BBS by running the file BBS.EXE. To do this, you simply enter the following at the DOS prompt: BBS IMPORTANT: If your modem uses another port other than COM1, you must start TriTel with the following command: BBS /Cport Where "port" is the number of your modem's serial port. For example, a TriTel system that will be using a modem hooked up to COM2 would need to be initialized with the following command: BBS /C2 IMPORTANT: If your modem can't support at least 2400 baud, you The TriTel Bulletin Board System 4 must start TriTel with the following command: BBS /Bbaud Where "baud" is your modem's highest baud rate. For example, a TriTel system that will be using a 1200 baud modem would need to be initialized with the following command: BBS /B1200 You can of course combine the /C and /B command line switches. For example, a system with a 300 baud (YUCK!!!) modem hooked up to COM3 would use one of the following commands: BBS /C3 /B300 or BBS /B300 /C3 If everything went ok, you should now see TriTel's Waiting for Caller screen. This screen presents you with 10 menu options. At this time, you should use the arrow keys to position the double-lined box around the "Exit TriTel" option. Once the double-lined box is around the "Exit TriTel" option, simply press (For the rest of this manual, a keyboard key is indicated by surrounding it with <>.) and you will be returned to the DOS prompt. By running TriTel in this fashion, TriTel has created a system data file and two subdirectories off your main TriTel directory. These two subdirectories are name WORK and DISPLAY. If your main TriTel directory is C:\TRITEL, you should now have the two subdirectories: C:\TRITEL\WORK and C:\TRITEL\DISPLAY. TriTel creates these two subdirectories to maintain the BBS. The WORK directory holds the user data file, the message conferences, menu configuration files, questionnaires, answers to questionnaires, the callers log, and a few other data files. The DISPLAY directory holds display screens: log on screens, goodbye screen, bulletins, door bulletins, custom menu screens, etc. Modifying BOARD.BAT ------------------- The next step in getting a minimal TriTel system up and running is to make any necessary modifications to a batch file called BOARD.BAT. Although TriTel will run by simply executing BBS.EXE at the DOS prompt, it will not be able to properly run events and doors without being executed by BOARD.BAT. Consequently, you should always start up your BBS by enter the following at the DOS prompt: BOARD As we said though, BOARD.BAT may need to be modified. The The TriTel Bulletin Board System 5 following is a listing of BOARD.BAT: echo off cd \tritel if exist door.bat del door.bat if exist event.bat del event.bat if exist endbbs del endbbs bbs if exist door.bat door if exist event.bat event if exist endbbs goto end board :end Note how the second line of BOARD.BAT changes the current directory to the TriTel BBS's main directory. If your TriTel setup uses a different directory other than "\tritel", you will have to use some type of a text editor to make the appropriate change. Getting TriTel to Run on Boot Up -------------------------------- You will want your TriTel system to automatically start up whenever your computer reboots. This can be accomplished by performing two simple modifications to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. First of all, you should modify or create a SET PATH or PATH command to include your main TriTel directory. At the end of your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, you should put the command BOARD. That way DOS will automatically run TriTel each time the computer is rebooted. The following is a sample AUTOEXEC.BAT file before it has been modified to start up TriTel automatically: @ECHO OFF PROMPT $p$g PATH C:\DOS;C:\WINDOWS;C:\QEMM;C:\ZIP The following is the same AUTOEXEC.BAT file after the appropriate changes have been made to it for TriTel: @ECHO OFF PROMPT $p$g PATH C:\TRITEL;C:\DOS;C:\WINDOWS;C:\QEMM;C:\ZIP BOARD Note how the PATH command in line three was modified and how BOARD was added to the end of the batch file. If everything has been done properly, TriTel should start up automatically after a reboot. So let's give it a try and press The TriTel Bulletin Board System 6 RESET. After a few seconds, you should see the TriTel Waiting for Caller screen. If you don't, you should go back and check both BOARD.BAT and AUTOEXEC.BAT for errors. It will probably be something really simple. The Menu Configuration Files ---------------------------- Only one last step and TriTel should be all set to run as a minimal system. If you are still at the TriTel's Waiting for Caller screen, exit from TriTel by selecting the "Exit TriTel" menu option. You should now be returned to the DOS prompt and should be in the main TriTel directory. If DOS isn't in the main TriTel directory, recheck your BOARD.BAT file to see if the change directory command in line two was changed properly. TriTel uses a series of menu configuration files to generate menu displays on the fly. If you do a directory listing of your main TriTel directory, you will note that TriTel came with a number of files with the extension of MNU. These are the menu configuration files and must be placed in your WORK subdirectory for TriTel to function properly. Moving these files to the WORK subdirectory and deleting them from main TriTel directory can be accomplished with the two following commands: COPY *.MNU WORK DEL *.MNU Your First Log On ----------------- You can now finally log on as a new user. Simply enter BOARD at the DOS prompt to restart TriTel. After the Waiting for Caller screen appears and the modem has been initialized, move the double-lined border to the "Local Logon" menu option and select it by pressing . This option will log you on to the BBS and takes the phone off the hook. The screen should now clear and the following will be displayed: The TriTel Bulletin Board System 7 ----------------------------------------------------------------- CONNECT LOCAL / 05-15-91 (09:14) Welcome to Unnamed BBS. A TriTel BBS 1.1 Bulletin Board System Copyright (c) 1991 By Mark D. Goodwin Your Sysop is Joe Sysop. Registration Number: Unregistered!!!!! Do you want ANSI color graphics (y/N)? ----------------------------------------------------------------- This display simply displays that a local connection was made, the name of the board, Unnamed BBS; that it's a TriTel 1.1 BBS; a copyright notice; the sysop's name, Joe Sysop; and it's an "Unregistered!!!!!" board. The board's name and the sysop's name can be changed quite simply. We'll discuss how it's done in the next section. As for a registration number, you'll have to register your board to get rid of "Unregistered!!!!!". (Hint, Hint) You will also note that TriTel is prompting you as to whether or not you want ANSI color graphics or not. If you have a color monitor, you will probably want to respond affirmatively by pressing . If you don't have a color monitor or just simply do not want a color display, respond "No" by pressing either the or the key. Note how the prompt has the "N" capitalized. This indicates that TriTel will consider pressing as the same as pressing . So whenever you see a similar TriTel prompt, you will know that pressing will perform the same action as pressing the capitalized key. After selecting the appropriate color choice, TriTel will prompt you to enter your name as follows: ----------------------------------------------------------------- Please enter your name: ----------------------------------------------------------------- Simply type your name and press . Because this is your first log on, TriTel will display the following: The TriTel Bulletin Board System 8 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Please enter your name: Mark Goodwin Searching user records for Mark Goodwin. oodbye, eenter name, or ew User? ----------------------------------------------------------------- Because you are a "new user", you should press . If you weren't a new user, you could either "reenter name" by pressing or say "goodbye" by pressing . TriTel will now prompt you for a password as follows: ----------------------------------------------------------------- Enter your password (1 to 15 chars.): ----------------------------------------------------------------- Simply type in a password and press . IMPORTANT: Be sure that you use a unique password for your system. If somebody finds out what you password is, it is possible for them to make extensive modifications to your BBS. So be careful with your password. TriTel will now ask if you entered your password correctly as follows: ----------------------------------------------------------------- Enter your password (1 to 15 chars.): install Is Install correct (Y,n)? ----------------------------------------------------------------- If your password is correct, press either or . If it is incorrect, press and TriTel will once again prompt you for your password. The main reason for allowing you to reenter a password is because a remote user may get hit with line noise and not realize that his desired password wasn't entered properly. After entering your password correctly, TriTel will prompt you for your city and state as follows: ----------------------------------------------------------------- Enter your City, State: ----------------------------------------------------------------- The TriTel Bulletin Board System 9 After entering your city and state, TriTel will give you the opportunity to change it as follows: ----------------------------------------------------------------- Enter your City, State: Orland, ME Is Orland, Me correct (Y,n)? ----------------------------------------------------------------- TriTel continues this process by asking for your phone number and date of birth as follows: ----------------------------------------------------------------- Enter your phone number ###-###-####: Enter your phone number ###-###-####: 207-469-6556 Is 207-469-6556 correct (Y,n)? Enter your date of birth MM/DD/YY: Enter your date of birth MM/DD/YY: 10/19/56 Is 10/19/56 correct (Y,n)? ----------------------------------------------------------------- After entering your date of birth, TriTel will prompt you to select a default protocol as follows: ----------------------------------------------------------------- Xmodem Xmodem-1K Ymodem Ymodem-G Zmodem No Default Please select a default protocol: ---------------------------------------------------------------- Simply select the default file transfer protocol would like to use when calling your board remotely. If you don't want to set a default protocol, press . By selecting "No Default", TriTel will prompt you to select a protocol before each file transfer. After you've entered all of you personal information, TriTel continues with its normal log on procedure by displaying the following list of statistics: The TriTel Bulletin Board System 10 ----------------------------------------------------------------- You are caller number 1. There has been 0 other calls today. There has been 0 other calls today. There has been 0 messages posted today. There has been 0 files uploaded today. There has been 0 files downloaded today. Your last call was on 04/06/91 13:15. You have called 1 times. You have called 0 other times today. You have uploaded 0 files. You have downloaded 0 files. Your security level is 10! top, onstop, or for more? ----------------------------------------------------------------- Note the "top, onstop, or for more?" prompt at the bottom of the display. This is TriTel's more prompt. By pressing , TriTel will stop the display and continue with the next task. By pressing , TriTel will continuously display the remainder of the information without displaying another more prompt. By pressing , TriTel will display another screenful of information and then another more prompt. You should note that most screen displays can be stopped by simply pressing . As it so happens, the above is the entire statistics display so pressing either or will have the same effect. Because your system doesn't have any bulletins yet, the following will be displayed: ----------------------------------------------------------------- There are no bulletins available today! ----------------------------------------------------------------- If there were any bulletins, you would have been presented with TriTel's bulletin menu. Instead, TriTel continues on by displaying the main menu with the following selections: ..Bulletin Menu ..Newsletter ..Message Menu ..Your Personal Information ..File Menu ..System Information ..Door Menu ..Expert Mode ..Questionnaire Menu

..Page Sysop ..Comment to Sysop ..Goodbye ..Toggle ANSI Graphics Mode The TriTel Bulletin Board System 11 For the most part, TriTel's main menu is its gateway to other areas of interest. You will also see the following prompt: ----------------------------------------------------------------- You have been on 7 minutes with 23 remaining. Enter Selection - [B M F D Q C A N Y I X P G]? ----------------------------------------------------------------- At this point, you will want to log off your BBS by pressing . Before logging off, TriTel will give you a final chance to change your mind as follows: ----------------------------------------------------------------- Are you sure you want to log off (Y/n)? ----------------------------------------------------------------- The TriTel Bulletin Board System 12 THE WAITING FOR CALLER SCREEN ----------------------------- Other than being pretty colorful, TriTel's Waiting for Caller screen allows the sysop to perform a great deal of board maintenance without even having to log on to the board. Indeed, certain configuration information can only be changed by some of the Waiting for Caller screen options. The Waiting for Caller screen is divided into three major parts. The Waiting for Caller Screen Menu ---------------------------------- The top portion of the screen is the Waiting for Caller menu and allows you to select one of the following ten options: Drop to DOS Configure Modem Edit Conferences Local Logon Edit Users Edit Events Configure System Edit File Areas View Callers Log Exit TriTel As you already know from installing TriTel, a menu option is selected by moving the double-lined border to the desired option and pressing . Each of these ten menu options will now be explained one at a time. Drop to DOS ----------- The "Drop to DOS" menu option will temporarily shell out to DOS and allow you to enter DOS commands. You can return to TriTel by simply entering EXIT at the DOS command prompt. You should note that TriTel takes the phone off the hook when the "Drop to DOS" menu option is selected and will put it back on the hook when you return from DOS. This will give any callers a BUSY signal while you are shelled out to DOS. Configure Modem --------------- The "Configure Modem" menu option allows you to change the modem's configuration information. It will display a dialog box with the following six items: The TriTel Bulletin Board System 13 Serial Port: 1 Pressing allows you to change the modem's serial port. Simply enter the new serial port number. COM1 is the default. Init String: ATS0=0Q0E0M0V1H0S2=43X1^M Pressing allows you to change the modem's initialization string. The above initialization string is TriTel's default initialization string and should work with most modems. If your modem doesn't answer correctly, you should consult your modem's manual to determine what changes may be necessary to the above initialization string. Any control characters are indicated by using the format ^character. The initialization string must end with a ^M control character. Although you can change the above string to suit your needs, you shouldn't modify S0=0 (this instructs your modem NOT to automatically answer a call), Q0 (this instructs your modem to display result codes), V1 (this instructs your modem to use verbal result codes), H0 (this instructs your modem to put the phone on the hook), S2=43 (this tells your modem the escape sequence character). Additionally, you should insure that you use X1 or greater for result codes. Otherwise, CONNECT codes aren't returned by the modem. You should note that you can specify a modem initialization string by using a "/I" command line switch. Simply follow "/I" with the initialization string while executing BBS.EXE. Init Baud Rate: 2400 Pressing allows you to specify your modem's highest baud rate. The default is 2400 baud. Error Correct Message: ARQ Pressing allows you to specify your modem's error correcting connection message. If you have an error correcting modem and a caller connects with another error correcting modem, your modem will pass a message to TriTel in the CONNECT string indicating that it is an error correcting connection. Most modem's use ARQ to indicate an error correcting connection. Accordingly, TriTel uses ARQ as its default. If your modem uses a different error correcting connection string, you should specify the appropriate string. If you modem isn't an error correcting modem, you don't have to worry about even setting this. Lock Serial Port: No Pressing toggles TriTel's "Lock Serial Port" flag. The TriTel Bulletin Board System 14 If this flag is set to "Yes", TriTel will keep the serial port at your modem's highest baud rate upon connection. If this flag is set to "No" (the default), TriTel will adjust the serial port to match the baud rate in the CONNECT message. Locking a serial port is only necessary for most error correcting modems. Hardware Data Flow: No Pressing toggles TriTel's "Hardware Data Flow" flag. If this flag is set to "Yes", TriTel will use hardware data flow control. If this flag is set to "No" (the default), TriTel won't use hardware data flow control. Hardware data flow control is only necessary for most error correcting modems. After you have made any and all changes to your modem's configuration, you can return to the Waiting for Caller screen by pressing . Before returning to the Waiting for Caller screen, TriTel will reinitialize the modem. This is necessary for any changes to take effect. While you are using the "Configure Modem" dialog box, TriTel takes the phone off the hook. The phone will be placed back on the hook as soon as you return to the Waiting for Caller screen. Edit Conferences ---------------- The "Edit Conferences" menu option allows you to add, edit, and delete your message base conferences. It will display a menu similar to the following: The TriTel Bulletin Board System 15 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Message Conference Record Number 1 of 15 Conference Description.. : General Conference Security..... : 10 Netmail Conference...... : No User Message Deletion... : Allowed Purge Msgs Older Than... : 14 days Msg Pack Backup File.... : Yes Conference Description <+> Next Conference Conference Security <-> Previous Conference Netmail Toggle Record Number User Deletion Add New Conference

Old Message Purge Insert New Conference Backup Files Delete Conference Quit Enter Selection - [M S N U P B + - R A I D Q]? ----------------------------------------------------------------- As you can see from this sample display, the "Edit Conferences" menu presents you with the following 13 options: Conference Description Pressing allows you to change the message conference's name. <+> Next Conference Pressing <+> will move the editor to the next message conference. Conference Security Pressing allows you to set the conference's security level. This is the minimum security level a user must have in order to be allowed to access the conference. <-> Previous Conference Pressing <-> will move the editor to the previous message conference. Netmail Toggle Pressing will toggle the message conference's net mail flag. If the conference is a net mail conference, users will be allowed to enter messages to a person who isn't registered on your board. Furthermore, the user will be asked whether or not the message will be ECHOed or not. You should note the some net mail systems The TriTel Bulletin Board System 16 ignore the ECHO flag and just go ahead and echo all messages. Record Number Pressing allows you to specify the message conference to be edited. TriTel will prompt you for the desired message conference's number. User Deletion Pressing will toggle the message conference's user deletion flag. If user deletion is "Allowed", the user will be able to delete messages that he has either sent or are addressed to him. Otherwise, only a user with a minimum sysop security level will be able to delete messages from the conference. Add New Conference Pressing adds a new message conference to your board's message base. The new conference will be added on to the end of any existing conferences.

Old Message Purge Pressing

allows you to specify the number of days TRIPACK is to keep messages for. TRIPACK is the TriTel message base packer and will be discussed in a later section of this manual. After pressing

, TriTel will prompt you for the number of days to be kept. Insert New Conference Pressing inserts a new message conference in your board's message base. TriTel will prompt you to enter the number of the message conference you want the new message conference to come before. Backup Files Pressing toggles the TRIPACK backup flag. If the backup flag is set for "Yes", TRIPACK will keep a backup of the message conferences after it is done packing. Otherwise, TRIPACK will delete the backup data files. Delete Conference Pressing will delete the current conference. TriTel will prompt you to confirm this request before carrying it out. Quit Pressing will return you to the Waiting for Caller screen. While you are editing the conferences, TriTel takes the phone off the hook. The phone will be placed back on the hook as soon as you return to the Waiting for Caller screen. The TriTel Bulletin Board System 17 Local Logon ----------- As you already know from the installation instructions (You did read those didn't you?), the "Local Logon" menu option takes the phone off the hook and logs you on to the BBS just like a remote caller would be. Once logged on, you can use the board as any remote caller might. You can return to the Waiting for Caller screen by selecting oodbye at one of TriTel's menus. The phone is placed back on the hook after TriTel returns to the Waiting for Caller screen. Edit Users ---------- The "Edit Users" menu option allows you to edit your board's user file. It will display a menu similar to the following: ----------------------------------------------------------------- User Record Number [1 of 1] Original Log..: 04/06/91 User Name...: Mark Goodwin Last File Area: 0 Address.....: Orland, Me Last Msg Conf.: 0 Password....: Install Security Level: 10 Phone Number: 207-469-6556 Expert Mode...: No Birth Date..: 10/19/56 Uploads.......: 0 Last Call...: 04/06/91 13:15 Downloads.....: 0 Time Left...: 12 Locked Out....: No Times On....: 1 Delete User...: No <+> Next Record <-> Previous Record Downloads User Name Expert Uploads User Address <&> Delete User Last Msg Conf

User Password Lock User Out Last File Area <#> User Phone No Times On Time Left Record Number Security Level irth Date Original Log Date Find User uit Enter Selection - [+ - D N X U A & E P L C # T ! R S B O F Q]? ----------------------------------------------------------------- As you can see from this sample display, the "Edit Users" menu presents you with the following 21 options: <+> Next Record Pressing <+> will move the editor to the next user. <-> Previous Record Pressing <-> will move the editor to the previous user. The TriTel Bulletin Board System 18 Downloads Pressing will prompt you to enter the user's new number of downloads. User Name Pressing will prompt you to enter the user's new name. Expert Pressing will toggle the user's expert mode flag. If the user's expert mode flag is set for "Yes", TriTel will only display the menu prompts. Otherwise, TriTel will display the full menus. Uploads Pressing will prompt you to enter the user's new number of uploads. User Address Pressing will prompt you to enter the user's new name. <&> Delete User Pressing <&> will toggle the user's delete flag. The user will not actually be deleted from the user data file by selecting this option. If the user's delete flag is set to "Yes" and the sysop packs the user file (more about that later), the user's record will be deleted from the user data file. Last Msg Conf Pressing will prompt you to enter the user's new last message conference.

User Password Pressing

will prompt you to enter the user's new password. Lock User Out Pressing will toggle the user's lock user out flag. If this flag is set to "Yes", the caller will be automatically logged off whenever he tries to log on. This is intended to keep abusive users off you board and unfortunately you'll run across your share of them. Last File Area Pressing will prompt you to enter the user's last file area. <#> User Phone No Pressing <#> will prompt you to enter the user's new phone number. The TriTel Bulletin Board System 19 Times On Pressing will prompt you to enter the user's number of times on. Time Left Pressing will prompt you to enter the user's remaining time for the day. Record Number Pressing will prompt you to enter the record number for the user you want to edit. Security Level Pressing will prompt you for the user's new security level. irth Date Pressing will prompt you for the user's new birth date. Original Log Date Pressing will prompt you for the user's new original log on date. Find User Pressing will prompt you for the user's name you'd like to edit. TriTel will then search the user file for a match. uit Pressing will return you to the Waiting for Caller screen. While you are editing the user file, TriTel takes the phone off the hook. The phone will be placed back on the hook as soon as you return to the Waiting for Caller screen. Edit Events ----------- The "Edit Events" menu option allows you to edit your board's events. When TriTel runs an event, it exits from memory and runs a specified batch file. An event can be set to run at a particular time and for either a specific day or every day of the week. Events are handy for performing such tasks as daily door maintenance routines, net mail relays, etc. After selecting the "Edit Events" menu option, TriTel will display a menu similar to the following: The TriTel Bulletin Board System 20 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Event Record Number 1 of 2 Event Day (0 = Sun to 6 = Fri or 7 = All).. : 7 Event Time................................. : 00:01 Event File................................. : IMPEVENT Event Slide................................ : Yes Event Already Executed Today............... : Yes Event Day <-> Previous Event Event Time Record Number Event File Name Add New Event Slide Toggle Insert New Event Event Flag Toggle Delete Event <+> Next Event Quit Enter Selection - [Y T N S F + - R A I D Q]? ----------------------------------------------------------------- As you can see from this sample display, the "Edit Events" menu presents you with the following 12 options: Event Day Pressing will prompt you to enter the day the event is supposed to run. Enter 0 for Sunday, 1 for Monday, 2 for Tuesday, etc. If you want the event to run everyday, enter 7. <-> Previous Event Pressing <-> will move the editor to the previous event. Event Time Pressing will prompt you for the event time. The event time should use a 24-hour clock and must be in the format hh:mm. Record Number Pressing will prompt you to enter the record number for the event you want to edit. Event File Name Pressing will prompt you to enter the name of the event's batch file. This batch file must be located in your board's main directory. You should note that an extension of BAT is not required for the event batch file; however, the event batch file name you specify must match the file's name exactly. So the event batch file in the above example must be name IMPEVENT and not IMPEVENT.BAT. TriTel will copy this file to EVENT.BAT The TriTel Bulletin Board System 21 before exiting from memory and then BOARD.BAT will run EVENT.BAT. It is crucial that the event batch file changes the directory back to your main TriTel directory and then re-executes the board by having BOARD as the last command in the batch file. The following is a sample event batch file: cd \doors\imperium impcycle cd \tritel board Add New Event Pressing adds a new event to your board's event data file. The new event will be added on to the end of any existing events. Slide Toggle Pressing will toggle the event's slide flag. If the slide flag is set for "Yes", the event will be a sliding event. If it is a sliding event and the event time occurs while somebody is logged on to the board, the event won't run until the caller logs off. If the slide flag is set for "No", the event will be a nonsliding event. If the next scheduled event is a nonsliding event and a caller's remaining time for the day would put him past the scheduled event time, TriTel will adjust the caller's log on time so that his time will always expire shortly before the event is scheduled to take place. TriTel will display an appropriate message to the caller whenever the caller's log on time has been adjusted for an event. Insert New Event Pressing inserts a new event in your board's event data file. TriTel will prompt you to enter the number of the event you want the new event to come before. Event Flag Toggle Pressing will toggle the event's event flag. If the event flag is set for "Yes", the event has already been run for the day. If the event flag is set for "No", TriTel will run the event at its scheduled time. Delete Event Pressing will delete the current event. TriTel will prompt you to confirm this request before carrying it out. <+> Next Event Pressing <+> will move the editor to the next event. The TriTel Bulletin Board System 22 Quit Pressing will return you to the Waiting for Caller screen. While you are editing the events, TriTel takes the phone off the hook. The phone will be placed back on the hook as soon as you return to the Waiting for Caller screen. Configure System ---------------- The "Configure System" menu option allows you to change a number of TriTel's configuration options. It will display a dialog box with the following 15 items: Board Name: Unnamed BBS Pressing allows you to change your board's name. Sysop Name: Joe Sysop Pressing allows you to change the sysop's name for your board. BBS Starting Date: 01/01/90 Pressing allows you to change the BBS's starting date. Total Calls: 1 Pressing allows you to change the total number of calls your BBS has had. This is particularly useful if you are switching from another system to TriTel. Daily Time Limit: 120 Pressing allows you to change the default daily time limit each caller is given. This can be overridden by the user's security level by the file DLIMITS.DAT. Daily Logon Limit: 5 Pressing allows you to change the default number of daily calls a caller can make. This can be overridden by the user's security level by the file DLIMITS.DAT. Max. Time Per Logon: 60 Pressing allows you to change the maximum allowable time a caller is given during each log on. TriTel will give the user the lesser of his remaining daily time, the maximum allowable time per log on, or the time remaining until the next scheduled event. Minimum Sysop Security Level: 100 Pressing allows you to change the minimum sysop security level. You should only give such a security The TriTel Bulletin Board System 23 level to people who can be fully trusted. If the caller's security level is at least equal to the minimum sysop security level, he will be able to read all private messages, delete and undelete all mail, toggle mail between being private and public, and perform any other sysop level functions that your menu setup allows. You should of course edit your user record to give yourself a security level that is at least this high. New User Security Level: 10 Pressing allows you to change the new user security level. This is the security level a caller is given during his first call. It is up to you as to whether or not the new user's security level should be raised or lowered from this level. New User Time Limit: 30 Pressing allows you to change the new user time limit. This is the amount of time a new user is given during his first day. 300 Baud Callers Allowed: Yes Pressing allows you to toggle the 300 baud caller flag. If the 300 baud caller flag is set to "Yes", TriTel will allow 300 baud calls. Otherwise, TriTel will display a message to the caller that 300 baud calls aren't allowed and disconnect the call. Upload Time Compensation: 1 Pressing allows you to change the upload time compensation ratio. TriTel takes the amount of time it takes for a user to upload a file and multiplies it by the upload time compensation amount. The result is added to the user's remaining time. By setting this figure to 2, 3, or whatever, you can reward your callers for their uploads with more time. Max. No Input Time: 5 Pressing allows you to change the maximum no input time. TriTel will log the user off if there is no activity within the specified number of minutes. Page Bell: Off Pressing allows you to toggle the page bell. If the page bell flag is set to "On", TriTel will sound an alarm when a caller tries to page you. Otherwise, TriTel will display a message informing the caller that you are not available. Direct Screen Writes: Yes Pressing allows you to toggle the direct screen The TriTel Bulletin Board System 24 write flag. If the direct screen write flag is set to "Yes", TriTel's video routines read and write directly to video memory. If you have an old CGA adapter and are experiencing snow on you display screen, you should set this to "No" so TriTel will use BIOS calls to perform video input/output. After you have made any and all changes to your system's configuration, you can return to the Waiting for Caller screen by pressing . While you are using the "Configure System" dialog box, TriTel takes the phone off the hook. The phone will be placed back on the hook as soon as you return to the Waiting for Caller screen. Edit File Areas --------------- The "Edit File Areas" menu option allows you to add, edit, and delete your file areas. It will display a menu similar to the following: ----------------------------------------------------------------- File Area Record Number 1 of 17 File Area Description.. : Compiled Libraries For My Books File Area Security..... : 10 File Area Sort Type.... : By Filename File Area Path......... : c:\tritel\mybooks File Area Upload Path.. : c:\tritel\uploads File Area Description <-> Previous File Area File Area Security Record Number File Area Sort Type Add New Fila Area

File Area Path Insert New File Area File Area Upload Path Delete File Area <+> Next File Area Quit Enter Selection - [F S T P U + - R A I D Q]? ----------------------------------------------------------------- As you can see from this sample display, the "Edit File Areas" menu presents you with the following 12 options: File Area Description Pressing allows you to change the file area's name. <-> Previous File Area Pressing <-> will move the editor to the previous file area. The TriTel Bulletin Board System 25 File Area Security Pressing allows you to set the file area's security level. This is the minimum security level a user must have in order to be allowed access to the file area. Record Number Pressing allows you to specify the file area to be edited. TriTel will prompt you for the desired file area's number. File Area Sort Type Pressing allows you to toggle the file area's sort type. If the file area's sort type is set for "By Filename", the "Sort File Areas" Sysop Menu option will sort the file area's list by filenames. Otherwise, TriTel will sort the file area by date. Normally, you will probably only use a "By Date" sort type for your current uploads file area. That way new uploads will be listed in the order they were uploaded. Add New File Area Pressing adds a new file area to your board. The new file area will be added on to the end of any existing file areas.

File Area Path Pressing

allows you to specify the file area's path. This is the subdirectory TriTel will use to store the file area's files and file list. Do not use a "\" at the end of the pathname. Insert New File Area Pressing inserts a new file area in your board's file areas. TriTel will prompt you to enter the number of the file area you want the new file area to come before. File Area Upload Path Pressing allows you to specify the file area's upload path. All new uploaded files for the file area will be stored in the specified subdirectory. It is common practice to have a new uploads directory to put all new files in. Once you have had a chance to review the upload, you can easily move the file to its proper file area. Do not use a "\" at the end of the pathname. Delete File Area Pressing will delete the current file area. TriTel will prompt you to confirm this request before carrying The TriTel Bulletin Board System 26 it out. <+> Next File Area Pressing <+> will move the editor to the next file area. Quit Pressing will return you to the Waiting for Caller screen. While you are editing the file areas, TriTel takes the phone off the hook. The phone will be placed back on the hook as soon as you return to the Waiting for Caller screen. View Callers Log ---------------- The "View Callers Log" menu option allows you to view your board's callers log. TriTel maintains a log of a user's activity while a caller is logged on. This file is named CALLERS.LOG and is kept in the WORK directory. By selecting the "View Callers Log" menu option, TriTel will prompt you for a date to start viewing the log from. You can simply press to view the log starting at the beginning of the current day. While you are viewing the callers log, TriTel takes the phone off the hook. The phone will be placed back on the hook as soon as you return to the Waiting for Caller screen. Exit TriTel ----------- The "Exit TriTel" menu option exits you from TriTel and returns you to the DOS command prompt. The Modem Status Window ----------------------- The middle portion of the Waiting for Caller screen is the modem status window. The window will display the current state of the modem: initialization information, ring detection, and connection information. The Statistics Display ---------------------- The bottom portion of the Waiting for Caller screen displays a variety of information about your board: the total number of calls, the number of calls for the current day, the number of messages that have been posted during the current day, the number The TriTel Bulletin Board System 27 of uploads for the current day, the number of downloads for the current day, and the name of the last caller. Screen Blanking --------------- After a short period of time, TriTel will blank the screen and bounce a "TriTel BBS Ready For Caller" message around the screen. This is done to prevent your screen from being burned by the Waiting for Caller screen. The Waiting for Caller screen is redisplayed by pressing any key. The TriTel Bulletin Board System 28 DISPLAY SCREENS --------------- TriTel allows you to use a number of optional display screens to customize your board. These screens can be either ANSI color screens or monochrome screens. TriTel requires you to use an extension of ANS for ANSI color screens and BBS for monochrome screens. All display screens are stored in the TriTel DISPLAY subdirectory. If the caller has selected ANSI color graphics, TriTel will always search the DISPLAY subdirectory for ANS screens. If TriTel can't find an ANS screen or the caller doesn't have ANSI color graphics selected, TriTel will search the DISPLAY subdirectory for an appropriate monochrome screen. If TriTel can't find either type of display screen, TriTel will either display nothing if it's a simple display screen or TriTel will generate and display a menu on the fly if an appropriate menu screen isn't found. Control Codes ------------- By placing certain control codes in your display screen, you can control how TriTel displays a screen. Control codes are the ASCII codes 1 to 26. At present, TriTel supports the use of the following control codes: Code Description 2 Disables the "more prompt". 3 Makes the screen unbreakable. A breakable screen can be stopped by the caller pressing . 4 Displays the caller's first name. 5 Enables the "more prompt". 6 Displays the caller's city/state. 12 Clears the display screen. 14 Makes the screen breakable. 15 Displays the caller's original log on date. 16 Displays a "more prompt". Log On and Goodbye Screens -------------------------- TriTel supports up to nine log on screens and one goodbye screen. The filename for a log on screen is LOGONn.ANS or LOGONn.BBS. Where "n" is a number from 1 to 9. After a caller answers the ANSI color graphics prompt, TriTel will display either LOGON1.ANS or LOGON1.BBS. After the caller has entered his name and password, TriTel will display the screens LOGON2 to LOGON9. At log off and before TriTel disconnects the caller, TriTel will The TriTel Bulletin Board System 29 display either GOODBYE.ANS or GOODBYE.BBS. Security Specific Log On Screens -------------------------------- TriTel supports security specific log on screens. The filename for a security specific log on screen is either nSEC.ANS or nSEC.BBS. Where "n" is the security level for the log on screen. Security specific log on screens are displayed after TriTel displays the normal log on screens. Newsletter Log On Screen ------------------------ TriTel supports a newsletter log on screen. The filename for a newsletter log on screen is either BBSNEWS.ANS or BBSNEWS.BBS. A newsletter log on screen is displayed to the caller after TriTel displays any security specific log on screens. A newsletter log on screen is only displayed if it has been updated since the user's last call. User Specific Log On Screens ---------------------------- TriTel supports user specific log on screens. The filename for a user specific log on screen is either n.ANS or n.BBS. Where "n" is the caller's user number. User specific log on screens are displayed after TriTel displays any newletter log on screen. Once a user specific log on screen has been displayed to the appropriate caller, TriTel automatically deletes the screen. New User Screen --------------- After a new user enters his name and indicates that he is a new user, TriTel will display a special new user screen named either NEWUSER.ANS or NEWUSER.BBS. Bulletin Menu and Bulletins --------------------------- Normally, TriTel will generate a Bulletin Menu on the fly; however, you may use a custom Bulletin Menu by naming the display files BULLETIN.ANS and BULLETIN.BBS. You can have from 1 to 99 bulletins by naming them as BULLETn.ANS and BULLETn.BBS. Where "n" is a number from 1 to 99. The TriTel Bulletin Board System 30 Main Menu --------- Normally, TriTel will generate a Main Menu for the caller's security level on the fly; however, you may use custom Main Menus by naming the display files MAINn.ANS and MAINn.BBS. Where "n" is the menu's security level. Message Menu ------------ Normally, TriTel will generate a Message Menu for the caller's security level on the fly; however, you may use custom Message menus by naming the display files MESSn.ANS and MESSn.BBS. Where "n" is the menu's security level. File Menu --------- Normally, TriTel will generate a File Menu for the caller's security level on the fly; however, you may use custom File Menus by naming the display files FILEn.ANS and FILEn.BBS. Where "n" is the menu's security level. Door Menu --------- Normally, TriTel will generate a Door Menu for the caller's security level on the fly; however, you may use custom Door Menus by naming the display files DOORn.ANS and DOORn.BBS. Where "n" is the menu's security level. Door Bulletin Menu and Door Bulletins ------------------------------------- Normally, TriTel will generate a Door Bulletin Menu on the fly; however, you may use a custom Door Bulletin Menu by naming the display files DOORBULL.ANS and DOORBULL.BBS. You can have from 1 to 99 door bulletins by naming them as DRBULLn.ANS and DRBULLn.BBS. Where "n" is a number from 1 to 99. Questionnaire Menu ----------------- Normally, TriTel will generate a Questionnaire Menu for the The TriTel Bulletin Board System 31 caller's security level on the fly; however, you may use a custom Questionnaire Menu by naming the display files QUESTn.ANS and QUESTn.BBS. Where "n" is the menu's security level. Sysop Menu ---------- Normally, TriTel will generate a Sysop Menu for the caller's security level on the fly; however, you may use custom Sysop Menus by naming the display files SYSOPn.ANS and SYSOPn.BBS. Where "n" is the menu's security level. Making Your Own Display Screens ------------------------------- To make your own custom display screens, you'll need a good ANSI screen editor. Perhaps one of the best is a shareware product called TheDraw. It has many powerful features including ANSI animation. The TriTel Bulletin Board System 32 THE TRITEL MENU SYSTEM ---------------------- The heart of TriTel and what makes it so easy to set up and maintain is its powerful menu system. The TriTel menu system is comprised of eight menus: the Bulletin Menu, the Main Menu, the Message Menu, the File Menu, the Door Menu, the Door Bulletin Menu, the Questionnaire Menu, and the Sysop Menu. As you already know, TriTel allows you to use your own security level specific menus; however, TriTel can generate any of its eight menus from the information contained in its eight menu configuration files. These configuration files have an extension of .MNU and are located in the TriTel WORK subdirectory. The Bulletin Menu Configuration File ------------------------------------ The Bulletin Menu file has a name of BULLETIN.MNU. You should note that this is an optional menu configuration file and is only necessary if you have bulletins and aren't using custom Bulletin Menus. As with all TriTel menu configuration files, BULLETIN.MNU is a text file and can be edited with any text editor. The format for BULLETIN.MNU is as follows: The TriTel Bulletin Board System 33 ----------------------------------------------------------------- border background,border foreground,background,foreground description . . . description Where: border background is the border background color for an ANSI color menu. border foreground is the border foreground color for an ANSI color menu. background is the background color for an ANSI color menu. foreground is the foreground color for an ANSI color menu. description is one of more description of the bulletins. These should be in the order of your bulletins. For example, the first description should be for BULLET1.ANS and BULLET1.BBS, the second description should be for BULLET2.ANS and BULLET2.BBS, etc. ----------------------------------------------------------------- The following is a sample BULLETIN.MNU file: ----------------------------------------------------------------- 7,0,4,15 Rules of the BBS TriTel BBS 1.0 History ----------------------------------------------------------------- The Main Menu Configuration File -------------------------------- The Main Menu configuration file has a name of MAIN.MNU. As with all other TriTel menu configuration files, MAIN.MNU is a text file and can be edited with any text editor. The format for MAIN.MNU is as follows: The TriTel Bulletin Board System 34 ----------------------------------------------------------------- border background,border foreground,background,foreground B,Bulletin Menu,security level M,Message Menu,security level F,File Menu,security level D,Door Menu,security level Q,Questionnaire Menu,security level S,Sysop Menu,security level C,Comment to Sysop,security level A,Toggle ANSI Graphics Mode,security level N,Newsletter,security level Y,Your Personal Information,security level I,System Information,security level X,Expert Mode,security level P,Page Sysop,security level G,Goodbye,security level Where: border background is the border background color for an ANSI color menu. border foreground is the border foreground color for an ANSI color menu. background is the background color for an ANSI color menu. foreground is the foreground color for an ANSI color menu. security level is the minimum security level for this command. ----------------------------------------------------------------- You should note that the order of the Main Menu items and their descriptions can be changed. However, the color codes must be in the configuration file's first line and each of the menu item hotkeys (the character in the first column) must remain the same. The following is a sample Main Menu configuration file: The TriTel Bulletin Board System 35 ----------------------------------------------------------------- 6,0,1,15 B,Bulletin Menu,10 M,Message Menu,10 F,File Menu,10 D,Door Menu,10 Q,Questionnaire Menu,999 S,Sysop Menu,100 C,Comment to Sysop,10 A,Toggle ANSI Graphics Mode,10 N,Newsletter,10 Y,Your Personal Information,10 I,System Information,10 X,Expert Mode,10 P,Page Sysop,10 G,Goodbye,0 ----------------------------------------------------------------- The following are descriptions of the 14 Main Menu items: B,Bulletin Menu,security level By pressing at the Main Menu, TriTel will branch to the Bulletin Menu. M,Message Menu,security level By pressing at the Main Menu, TriTel will branch to the Message Menu. F,File Menu,security level By pressing at the Main Menu, TriTel will branch to the File Menu. D,Door Menu,security level By pressing at the Main Menu, TriTel will branch to the Door Menu. If your board doesn't have any doors, you should set the security level for this option higher than anybody's security level. Q,Questionnaire Menu,security level By pressing at the Main Menu, TriTel will branch to the Questionnaire Menu. If your board doesn't have any questionnaires, you should set the security level for this option higher than anybody's security level. S,Sysop Menu,security level By pressing at the Main Menu, TriTel will branch to the Sysop Menu. IMPORTANT: The security level for this option should be set for at least your minimum sysop The TriTel Bulletin Board System 36 security level. C,Comment to Sysop,security level By pressing at the Main Menu, TriTel will let the caller send a private message to the sysop. The message will be saved in the board's first message conference. A,Toggle ANSI Graphics Mode,security level By pressing at the Main Menu, TriTel will toggle ANSI color graphics on and off. N,Newsletter,security level By pressing at the Main Menu, TriTel will display the board's newsletter, if any. Y,Your Personal Information,security level By pressing at the Main Menu, TriTel will let the caller display and edit some of his information. TriTel will display the following menu to the caller: ------------------------------------------------------------ Name......: Mark Goodwin Address...: Orland, Me Phone.....: 207-469-6556 Birth.........: 10/19/56 First Call: 05/15/91 Last Call.....: 05/15/91 09:14 Uploads...: 0 Downloads.....: 0 Times On..: 2 Security Level: 10 Password..: Install Protocol......: Zmodem ddress,

assword, Phone umber, efault Protocol, uit: ------------------------------------------------------------ As you can see from this sample display, the "Your Personal Information" menu features the following five options: ddress Pressing prompts the caller for his new city/state.

assword Pressing

prompts the caller for his new password. Phone umber Pressing prompts the caller for his new phone number. The TriTel Bulletin Board System 37 efault Protocol Pressing prompts the caller to select a new default protocol. uit Pressing returns the caller to the Main Menu. I,System Information,security level By pressing at the Main Menu, TriTel will display a number of the board's statistics. X,Expert Mode,security level Pressing will toggle the caller's expert mode flag. If his expert mode flag is set for "Yes", TriTel will not display the menus for the caller. Otherwise, TriTel will display the menus to the caller. P,Page Sysop,security level Pressing

will page the sysop. G,Goodbye,security level Pressing will log the caller off the board. The Message Menu Configuration File ----------------------------------- The Message Menu configuration file has a name of MESSAGE.MNU. As with all other TriTel menu configuration files, MESSAGE.MNU is a text file and can be edited with any text editor. The format for MESSAGE.MNU is as follows: ----------------------------------------------------------------- border background,border foreground,background,foreground C,Change Conference,security level E,Enter a Message,security level R,Read Messages,security level N,New Messages,security level Y,Your Messages,security level S,Set Conference Queue,security level M,Main Menu,security level X,Expert Mode,security level P,Page Sysop,security level G,Goodbye,security level Where: border background is the border background color for an ANSI color menu. The TriTel Bulletin Board System 38 border foreground is the border foreground color for an ANSI color menu. background is the background color for an ANSI color menu. foreground is the foreground color for an ANSI color menu. security level is the minimum security level for this command. ----------------------------------------------------------------- You should note that the order of the Message Menu items and their descriptions can be changed. However, the color codes must be in the configuration file's first line and each of the menu item hotkeys (the characters in the first column) must remain the same. The following is a sample Message Menu configuration file: ----------------------------------------------------------------- 7,0,2,15 C,Change Conference,10 E,Enter a Message,10 R,Read Messages,10 N,New Messages,10 Y,Your Messages,10 S,Set Conference Queue,10 M,Main Menu,0 X,Expert Mode,10 P,Page Sysop,0 G,Goodbye,0 ----------------------------------------------------------------- The following are descriptions of the 10 Message Menu items: C,Change Conference,security level Pressing will let the caller change his current message conference. After displaying a list of the conferences that are available to the caller, TriTel will prompt him for the new conference. E,Enter a Message,security level Pressing will let the caller enter a message in the current message conference. TriTel will prompt the caller for the name to address the message to. If the current conference isn't a net mail conference, TriTel will check to see if the addressee is a user of the board. Messages addressed to Sysop will be changed to your name. If the message is addressed to an The TriTel Bulletin Board System 39 individual, TriTel will ask if the message should be flagged as PRIVATE. TriTel will then prompt for the message subject. If the conference is a net mail conference, TriTel will ask the caller if he wants the message ECHOed. From there, TriTel will let the caller enter his message using the TriTel line editor. The editor's menu can be displayed by pressing on a blank line. The following are the options the line editor menu offers: ave Pressing will save the message. bort Pressing will abort the message. ontinue Pressing will start the line editor again where the message left off. ist Pressing will list the message. elete Line Pressing will prompt the caller for the number of the line he wants deleted. nsert Line Pressing will prompt the caller for the number of the line he wants a blank line inserted before. dit Line Pressing will prompt the caller for the number of the line he would like to edit. eplace Text: Pressing will prompt the caller for the number of the line he would like to search and replace text in. After selecting the desired line, TriTel will prompt the caller to enter the search and replace strings. These strings are entered on the same line with a semicolon separating the two strings. TriTel will then search the line for occurrences of the search string. If the search string is found, it will be replaced by the replace string. uote Pressing will allow the caller to quote from a message he is replying to. TriTel will display the original message and then prompt the call for the first and last lines to be quoted. (This menu The TriTel Bulletin Board System 40 option is only available if the caller is replying to another message.) R,Read Messages,security level Pressing allows the caller to read messages. TriTel will prompt the caller if he wants to read messages in just the current conference, all conferences, the caller's queued conferences, or quit to the Message Menu. For each message conference, TriTel allows the caller to enter the number of the first message to be read only read new messages, or quit to the Message Menu. While reading messages, the caller will be presented with the following options: eply Pressing will allow the caller to enter a reply to the message. If the message is PUBLIC, TriTel will give the caller the option of making the reply PRIVATE. Read Re

lies Pressing

will allow the caller to read a message's replies. After reading all of the replies, TriTel will return to the original message. (This option is only available if the message has replies.) elete Pressing will allow the caller to delete the message. (This option is only available if the caller has at least a minimum sysop security level or the conference allows user deletion and the message is either from or to the caller.) ndelete Pressing will allow the caller to undelete a previously deleted message. (This option is only available if the caller has at least a minimum sysop security level.) Pulic Pressing will make a PRIVATE message PUBLIC. (This option is only available if the caller has at least a minimum sysop security level and the message is PRIVATE.) Priate Pressing will make a PUBLIC message PRIVATE. (This option is only available if the caller has at least a minimum sysop security level and the The TriTel Bulletin Board System 41 message is PUBLIC.) Next Message Pressing moves on to the next message. uit Pressing will allow the caller to quit reading messages in this message conference. N,New Messages,security level Pressing allows the caller to read new messages. TriTel maintains pointers in each message conference of the highest message number the caller has read. TriTel will prompt the caller if he wants to read messages in just the current conference, all conferences, the caller's queued conferences, or quit to the Message Menu. For each message conference, TriTel allows the caller to read the conference's new messages or quit to the Message Menu. While reading messages, the caller will be presented with the same options as TriTel uses with the "Read Messages" menu option. Y,Your Messages,security level Pressing allows the caller to read his messages. TriTel will prompt the caller if he wants to read his messages in just the current conference, all conferences, the caller's queued conferences, or quit to the Message menu. For each message conference, TriTel allows the caller to read the message to him in the conference or quit to the Message Menu. While reading messages, the caller will be presented with the same options as TriTel uses with the "Read Messages" and "New Messages" menu options. S,Set Conference Queue,security level Pressing allows the caller to set a conference queue. A conference queue allows the caller to select whether or not a conference will be read while reading messages in queued conferences. TriTel will display a menu with the following three options: ist Your Queue Entering presents a list of the conferences that are available to the user and indicates whether or not they are queued conferences. <####> Conference to Toggle Entering a conference's number toggle's its queued status. The TriTel Bulletin Board System 42 to Quit Simply pressing returns the caller to the Message Menu. M,Main Menu,security level Pressing returns the caller to the Main Menu. X,Expert Mode,security level Pressing will toggle the caller's expert mode flag. If his expert mode flag is set for "Yes", TriTel will not display the menus for the caller. Otherwise, TriTel will display the menus to the caller. P,Page Sysop,security level Pressing

will page the sysop. G,Goodbye,security level Pressing will log the caller off the board. The File Menu Configuration File -------------------------------- The File Menu configuration file has a name of FILES.MNU. As with all other TriTel menu configuration files, FILES.MNU is a text file and can be edited with any text editor. The format for FILES.MNU is as follows: The TriTel Bulletin Board System 43 ---------------------------------------------------------------- border background,border foreground,background,foreground C,Change File Area,security level L,List Files,security level N,New Files,security level T,Text Search File Lists,security level U,Upload File,security level D,Download File,security level V,View ZIP Archive,security level R,Remove File,security level O,Move File,security level M,Main Menu,security level X,Expert Mode,security level P,Page Sysop,security level G,Goodbye,security level Where: border background is the border background color for an ANSI color menu. border foreground is the border foreground color for an ANSI color menu. background is the background color for an ANSI color menu. foreground is the foreground color for an ANSI color menu. security level is the minimum security level for this command. ---------------------------------------------------------------- You should note that the order of the File Menu items and their descriptions can be changed. However, the color codes must be in the configuration file's first line and each of the menu item hotkeys (the character in the first column) must remain the same. The following is a sample File Menu configuration file: The TriTel Bulletin Board System 44 ---------------------------------------------------------------- 7,0,5,15 C,Change File Area,10 L,List Files,10 N,New Files,10 T,Text Search File Lists,10 U,Upload File,10 D,Download File,10 V,View ZIP Archive,10 R,Remove File,100 O,Move File,100 M,Main Menu,10 X,Expert Mode,10 P,Page Sysop,10 G,Goodbye,10 ---------------------------------------------------------------- The following are descriptions of the 12 File Menu items: C,Change File Area,security level Pressing will let the caller change his current file area. After displaying a list of the file areas that are available to the caller, TriTel will prompt him for the new file area. L,List Files,security level Pressing will let the caller view the board's file lists. TriTel will prompt the caller to enter a file mask. This file mask uses the same format as the DOS DIR command. After entering an appropriate file mask, TriTel will ask the caller if he wants to view the file lists for his current file area or all file areas. N,New Files,security level Pressing will let the caller view the board's new files. TriTel will prompt the caller to enter a date to begin the search with. If the caller simply presses , TriTel will use the caller's last log on date for the search date. TriTel will then ask the caller if he wants to see the new files for his current file area or all file areas. T,Text Search File Lists,security level Pressing will let the caller search for a text string in the board's file lists. TriTel will prompt the caller to enter the string to be searched for. After entering an appropriate search string, TriTel will ask the caller if he wants to search the file lists for his current file area or all file areas. The TriTel Bulletin Board System 45 U,Upload File,security level Pressing will let the caller upload a file. TriTel will prompt the caller for the file's name and description. If the call is a remote call, TriTel will ask the caller to select an appropriate protocol. If the call is a local call, the appropriate file must be in the file area's file path. D,Download File,security level Pressing will let the caller download one or more files. TriTel will prompt the caller for the names of the files to be downloaded. After entering a blank line, TriTel will ask the caller to select an appropriate protocol, if the caller hasn't selected a default protocol. You should note that this menu option is not available to local calls. V,View ZIP Archive,security level Pressing will let the caller view the contents of a ZIP archive. TriTel will first unZIP the archive and then display a complete listing of the archive's contents. The caller is then give the option of either relisting the archive's contents, displaying one of the archive's files, ZIPping up and downloading one or more individual members of the archive, or returning to the Files Menu. R,Remove File,security level Pressing will let the caller remove a file from the board's file lists and file areas. TriTel will prompt the caller for the file's name. If the file is found, TriTel will double check to be sure if the caller really wants to delete the file. IMPORTANT: The security level for this option should be set for at least your minimum sysop security level. O,Move File,security level Pressing will let the caller move a file from its present file area to another file area. TriTel will prompt the caller for the file's name and its new file area. IMPORTANT: The security level for this option should be set for at least your minimum sysop security level. M,Main Menu,security level Pressing returns the caller to the Main Menu. X,Expert Mode,security level Pressing will toggle the caller's expert mode flag. If his expert mode flag is set for "Yes", TriTel will not display the menus for the caller. Otherwise, TriTel will display the menus for the caller. The TriTel Bulletin Board System 46 P,Page Sysop,security level Pressing

will page the sysop. G,Goodbye,security level Pressing will log the caller off the board. The Door Menu Configuration File -------------------------------- The Door Menu configuration file has a name of DOORS.MNU. You should note that this is an optional menu configuration file and is only necessary if your board has doors available. As with all other TriTel menu configuration files, DOORS.MNU is a text file and can be edited with any text editor. The format for DOORS.MNU is as follows: ---------------------------------------------------------------- border background,border foreground,background,foreground door type,description,batch file,security level . . . door type,description,batch file,security level Where: border background is the border background color for an ANSI color menu. border foreground is the border foreground color for an ANSI color menu. background is the background color for an ANSI color menu. foreground is the foreground color for an ANSI color menu. door type is the type of door data files TriTel is to generate for this door. The door type can be any one of the following characters: D - Generates DOOR.SYS for GAP, etc. type doors. P - Generates PCBOARD.DAT, PCBOARD.SYS, and USERS for PCBoard 14.x doors. S - Generates SFDOORS.DAT for The TriTel Bulletin Board System 47 Spitfire doors. U - Generates UTIDOOR.TXT for UTI doors such as MegaMail. Note that a door type is required. There are a few doors that don't require a door data file to be run. If you wish to use such a door, you can simply specify any one of the above characters. A "U" door type creates the smallest files. Therefore, it is preferable to the others. description is a description for the door. batch file is the door's batch file. With TriTel, all doors are run with a batch file and must be loaded in your board's main directory. This batch file is similar to an event batch file. An extension of BAT is not required for a door batch file; however, the file name you specify in the configuration file must match the batch file's name exactly. When TriTel runs a door, it will generate the proper door data files as is indicated by the door's door type character. It will then copy the door's batch file to a file called DOOR.BAT. TriTel will then create a temporary caller information file. This temporary file holds the information TriTel will need when the caller returns to TriTel from the door. After generating all of the proper files, TriTel will exit from memory. BOARD.BAT will then run DOOR.BAT. In order for TriTel to restart after the caller is done with the door, the last line in the door batch file must call BOARD.BAT. The following is an example board batch file: cd \doors\global war /s c:\tritel\sfdoors.dat cd \tritel board security level is the minimum security level the caller needs to use the door. ---------------------------------------------------------------- The TriTel Bulletin Board System 48 The following is a sample DOORS.MNU file: ---------------------------------------------------------------- 7,0,6,15 U,MaineRelay Hub,HUBDOOR,50 S,Global War,GLOBAL,10 P,Imperium,IMPERIUM,10 P,Bowling,BOWLING,10 S,Scrabble,SCRABBLE,10 P,Super Guppy,SUPERG,10 U,MegaMail,MEGAMAIL,10 P,TriTel Time Bank,TRIBANK,10 P,Tic-Tac-Toe,TICTAC,100 U,Page Me!!!!,PAGE,100 S,Hobbit Trivia,SFHOBTRV,10 S,Stackem,STACKEM,10 P,King of the Board,KINGOB,10 ---------------------------------------------------------------- The Door Bulletin Menu Configuration File ----------------------------------------- The Door Bulletin Menu configuration file has a name of DOORBULL.MNU. You should note that this is an optional menu configuration file and is only necessary if you have door bulletins and aren't using custom Door Bulletin Menus. As with all TriTel menu configuration files, DOORBULL.MNU is a text file and can be edited with any text editor. The format for DOORBULL.MNU is as follows: The TriTel Bulletin Board System 49 ---------------------------------------------------------------- border background,border foreground,background,foreground description . . . description Where: border background is the border background color for an ANSI color menu. border foreground is the border foreground color for an ANSI color menu. background is the background color for an ANSI color menu. foreground is the foreground color for an ANSI color menu. description is one of more description of the bulletins. These should be in the order of your bulletins. For example, the first description should be for DRBULL1.ANS and DRBULL1.BBS, the second description should be for DRBULL2.ANS and DRBULL2.BBS, etc. ---------------------------------------------------------------- The following is a sample DOORBULL.MNU file: ---------------------------------------------------------------- 7,0,4,15 King of the Board Pyramid King of the Board Points Imperium Top Ten Scrabble Status Scrabble Top Ten Hobbit Trivia Top Ten Stackem Top Ten ---------------------------------------------------------------- The TriTel Bulletin Board System 50 The Questionnaire Menu Configuration File ---------------------------------------- The Questionnaire Menu configuration file has a name of QUESTION.MNU. You should note that this is an optional menu configuration file and is only necessary if your board has questionnaires available. As with all other TriTel menu configuration files, QUESTION.MNU is a text file and can be edited with any text editor. The format for QUESTION.MNU is as follows: ---------------------------------------------------------------- border background,border foreground,background,foreground description,questionnaire file,security level . . . description,questionnaire file,security level Where: border background is the border background color for an ANSI color menu. border foreground is the border foreground color for an ANSI color menu. background is the background color for an ANSI color menu. foreground is the foreground color for an ANSI color menu. description is a description for the questionnaire. questionnaire file is the name of the questionnaire and response file. This file name must not have an extension. Your questionnaire file should be in your board's WORK directory and have an extension of QUE. TriTel will save the answers to the questionnaire as a file with an extension of ANS. A TriTel questionnaire file will display each line in the file as is unless the first character of the line is a special questionnaire character as follows: The TriTel Bulletin Board System 51 : - Will display the line and prompt the user for input. Note that the caller must enter something in response to this prompt. ; - Will display the line and prompt the user for input. Note that the caller can enter a blank line in response to this prompt. @ - Will display the line and prompt the user to enter a date using the format MM-DD-YY. After the caller has entered the date, TriTel will prompt the caller to see if it was entered correctly. # - Will display the line and prompt the user to enter the date using the format ###-###-####. After the caller has entered the phone number, TriTel will prompt the caller to see if it was entered correctly. ^security level - Will set the caller's security level to the number specified after "^". ? - Will prompt the user for a Yes/No response. If the caller responds with a "Yes", TriTel will ignore the remaining questionnaire until TriTel finds a "+" character. TriTel will continue with the questionnaire until another "+" character is encountered. If the caller responds with a "No", TriTel will ignore the remaining questionnaire until TriTel finds a "-" character. TriTel will continue with the questionnaire until another "-" character is encountered. security level is the minimum security level the caller needs to be able to respond to the questionnaire. ---------------------------------------------------------------- The following is a sample QUESTION.MNU file: The TriTel Bulletin Board System 52 ---------------------------------------------------------------- 7,0,6,15 Question # 1,QUEST0,10 ---------------------------------------------------------------- The following is a sample questionnaire file: ---------------------------------------------------------------- Please answer the following questions truthfully: :What is your real name? :What is your street address? :What is your city, state, and zip code? :What type of computer do you own? :What type of modem are you using? :What type of communications software are you using? :Are you interested in messages, files, doors, or all three? ?Are you the Sysop of a bulletin board + :What is the name of your BBS? #What is the BBS's phone number? + ---------------------------------------------------------------- You should note that TriTel supports a special New User Questionnaire. This questionnaire has a file name of NEWUSER and will be presented to a new user after displaying a new user screen, if any. The TriTel Bulletin Board System 53 The Sysop Menu Configuration File --------------------------------- The Sysop Menu configuration file has a name of SYSOP.MNU. As with all other TriTel menu configuration files, SYSOP.MNU is a text file an can be edited with any text editor. The format for SYSOP.MNU is as follows: ---------------------------------------------------------------- border background,border foreground,background,foreground U,Edit Users,security level C,Edit Message Conferences,security level F,Edit File Areas,security level E,Edit Events,security level V,View Callers Log,security level K,Pack User File,security level S,Sort File Lists,security level M,Main Menu,security level X,Expert Mode,security level P,Page Sysop,security level G,Goodbye,security level Where: border background is the border background color for an ANSI color menu. border foreground is the border foreground color for an ANSI color menu. background is the background color for an ANSI color menu. foreground is the foreground color for an ANSI color menu. security level is the minimum security level for this command. ---------------------------------------------------------------- You should note that the order of the Sysop Menu items and their descriptions can be changed. However, the color codes must be in the configuration file's first line and each of the menu item hotkeys (the character in the first column) must remain the same. The following is a sample Sysop Menu configuration file: The TriTel Bulletin Board System 54 ---------------------------------------------------------------- 7,0,3,15 U,Edit Users,100 C,Edit Message Conferences,100 F,Edit File Areas,100 E,Edit Events,100 V,View Callers Log,100 K,Pack User File,100 S,Sort File Lists,100 M,Main Menu,10 X,Expert Mode,10 P,Page Sysop,10 G,Goodbye,0 ---------------------------------------------------------------- The following are descriptions of the 11 Sysop Menu Items: U,Edit Users,security level Pressing will let the caller edit the user records. (See the Waiting for Caller screen section for a description of how the user records are edited.) C,Edit Message Conferences,security level Pressing will let the caller edit the message conferences. (See the Waiting for Caller screen section for a description of how the user records are edited.) F,Edit File Areas,security level Pressing will let the caller edit the file areas. (See the Waiting for Caller screen section for a description of how the file areas are edited.) E,Edit Events,security level Pressing will let the caller edit the events. (See the Waiting for Caller screen section for a description of how the events are edited.) V,View Callers Log,security level Pressing will let the caller view the callers log. TriTel will prompt the caller to enter the starting date to view the log from. K,Pack User File,security level Pressing will let the caller pack the user file. TriTel will purge any users that have been marked for deletion from the user file and the last message read pointer files. TriTel will prompt the caller if he wants to proceed with packing the user file before it The TriTel Bulletin Board System 55 is actually done. S,Sort File Lists,security level Pressing will let the caller sort the board's file lists. You should note that TriTel's sort routine has an upper limit of 3000 files per list. If your file lists grow beyond 3000 files, you will have to use an external sorting program to sort them. M,Main Menu,security level Pressing returns the caller to the Main Menu. X,Expert Mode,security level Pressing will toggle the caller's expert mode flag. If his expert mode flag is set for "Yes", TriTel will not display the menus for the caller. Otherwise TriTel will display the menus for the caller. P,Page Sysop,security level Pressing

will page the sysop. G,Goodbye,security level Pressing will log the caller off the board. The TriTel Bulletin Board System 56 FILE LISTS ---------- TriTel maintains a file called FILES.LST for each file area. Each file area's FILES.LST file resides in the file area's subdirectory (the one you specified when you added the file area to your board.) FILES.LST is a simple ASCII file where each line contains the following information: ---------------------------------------------------------------- 123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890..... FFFFFFFFFFFF SSSSSSSS MM-DD-YY DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD..... Where: FFFFFFFFFFFF is the file's name. SSSSSSSS is the file's size. MM-DD-YY is the file's date. DDDDDDDDDDDD..... is the file's description. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Each file entry in the list should be no more than 80 characters in length. Although for display purposes, 79 character is a more practical limit. If you wish, you can create each FILES.LST file with a text editor. A simple way to add a file to an area's FILES.LST is to locally upload it. Be sure that the file you want add to the file area's FILES.LST is located in the file area's subdirectory. Next log on locally, go to the Files Menu, change to the correct file area if you're not already in it, and select the upload option. Next, enter the file's name and description. TriTel will then add the file's information to the file area's FILES.LST. The easiest method for working with FILES.LST files is to use a program called FILESLST. FILESLST if available for download on The Lobster Buoy. Essentially, FILESLST scans a file area's subdirectory for any files that aren't in the file area's FILES.LST file. If a file wasn't found in the FILES.LST file, FILESLST adds the file's name, size, date, and a dummy description to the FILES.LST file. Although you will have to edit the file (or files) description with a text editor, FILESLST take most of the hassles out of adding numerous files to your board. The TriTel Bulletin Board System 57 EXTERNAL PROTOCOLS ------------------ TriTel supports up to 15 external protocols. To enable external protocols, you must create an external protocol menu configuration file called EXTPROT.MNU in your WORK directory. EXTPROT.MNU has the following format: The TriTel Bulletin Board System 58 ---------------------------------------------------------------- hotkey,description,send file,receive file,batch,error correcting . . . hotkey,description,send file,receive file,batch,error correcting Where: hotkey is the key to be used to select the external protocol. You should note that you can override any of TriTel's internal protocols by specifying the internal protocol's hotkey for the external protocol's hotkey. For example, you can use a hotkey of "Z" to replace TriTel's internal Zmodem protocol with DSZ. Additionally, you can't use "N" for a protocol's hotkey. description is a description to be displayed for the external protocol. send file is the exact name of the batch file that sends files to the caller with the external protocol. This batch file must reside in your board's main directory. receive file is the exact name of the batch file that receives files from the caller with the external protocol. This batch file must reside in your board's main directory. batch is "Y" if the external protocol supports batch downloading. Otherwise, "N" to indicated that the external protocol doesn't support batch downloading. error correcting is "Y" if the external protocol is to be used only with an error correcting connection. Otherwise, "N" to indicate that the external protocol can be used with all types of connections. ---------------------------------------------------------------- The following is an example of an EXTPROT.MNU file: The TriTel Bulletin Board System 59 ---------------------------------------------------------------- z,Zmodem (DSZ),sz.bat,rz.bat,y,n m,MPt (Puma),smpt.bat,rmpt.bat,y,n ---------------------------------------------------------------- This example file replaces TriTel's internal Zmodem protocol with DSZ and adds the very speedy MPt (formerly Puma) to the board's list of protocols. Both protocols support batch downloads and neither is an error correcting protocol. Send Batch Files ---------------- When TriTel calls a send batch file, it passes the following three parameters to the batch file: port number baud rate filename or EBATCH.DAT The "port number" and "baud rate" parameters are pretty self explanatory. The third parameter TriTel passes to the batch file requires a little further explanation. If the protocol, doesn't support batch downloads, TriTel only passes a single "filename" to the protocol. Otherwise, TriTel creates a file called "EBATCH.DAT" and passes the name of the file to the protocol's batch file. "EBATCH.DAT" is simple a line-by-line listing of the files in the batch download. The following is an example of a DSZ send batch file called SZ.BAT: ---------------------------------------------------------------- dsz port %1 sz -m @c:%3 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Note that the above batch file enables MobyTurbo transfers. The following is an example of a MPt send batch file called SMPT.BAT: ---------------------------------------------------------------- mpt p%1 s @%3 ---------------------------------------------------------------- The TriTel Bulletin Board System 60 Receive Batch Files ------------------- When TriTel calls a receive batch file, it passes the following three parameters to the batch file: ---------------------------------------------------------------- port number baud rate filename ---------------------------------------------------------------- The following is an example of a DSZ receive batch file called RZ.BAT: ---------------------------------------------------------------- dsz port %1 rz -mrr %3 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Note that the above batch file enables MobyTurbo transfers. The following is an example of a MPt receive batch file called RMPT.BAT: ---------------------------------------------------------------- mpt p%1 r %3 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Path Names --------- TriTel sends full path names to external protocols. Some shareware versions of protocols (most notably DSZ) don't support full path names. Therefore, you must register some protocols to get them to work with TriTel. The TriTel Bulletin Board System 61 RUNNING TRITEL WITH A FRONTEND OR AS A DOOR ------------------------------------------- TriTel can be run with either a frontend program (i.e., FrontDoor, BinkleyTerm, etc.) or as a door. To execute TriTel when there is already a connection, you must specify the connection's baud rate with TriTel's "/F" command line switch. The format for using this switch is "/Fbaud rate". Where "baud rate" is the connection's baud rate. For example, TriTel could be executed with a 2400 baud connection with the following command line: BBS /F2400 The above is only an example and you should use BOARD.BAT to run TriTel as you normally would. Otherwise, doors will not function properly. To do this, modify your BOARD.BAT file as follows: ---------------------------------------------------------------- echo off cd \tritel if exist door.bat del door.bat if exist event.bat del event.bat if exist endbbs del endbbs bbs %1 if exist door.bat door if exist event.bat event if exist endbbs goto end board :end ---------------------------------------------------------------- Note the "%1" after "bbs" in the above batch file. This will use BOARD.BAT's first command line parameter to pass the "/F" switch to TriTel. For example, you could execute TriTel using the above BOARD.BAT file with a 2400 baud connection by using the following DOS command: BOARD /F2400 Normally, TriTel will recycle to the Waiting for Caller screen when the caller either logs off or is forced off the board. If TriTel is started with a "/F" parameter, TriTel will exit memory and return control to the calling program. Thus, TriTel acts just like a door when a "/F" parameter is used. IMPORTANT: Although doors run fine when using TriTel in this manner, events are always executed by TriTel's Waiting for Caller screen routine. Therefore, events will never run if TriTel is being run with the "/F" parameter. If your board requires The TriTel Bulletin Board System 62 maintenance events and you are using TriTel with a frontend program, simple run them as a frontend event. If you are running TriTel as a door, simple let your main board run the necessary events. The TriTel Bulletin Board System 63 ARCHIVE TESTING --------------- TriTel can optionally call a ZIP file archive testing program. To enable archive testing of all remotely uploaded ZIP files, you must create a batch file called TESTUP.BAT in your board's main directory. If this file is found, TriTel will call TESTUP.BAT with the ZIP file's name as the batch file's first parameter. The actual testing program can be anything you chose to run in TESTUP.BAT. Upon completion of the testing, TriTel expects to find either a file called BADFILE.BBS to indicate a bad ZIP file or a file called GOODFILE.BBS to indicate a good ZIP file. Your ZIP file tester must place the appropriate file in your board's main directory. (NOT the board's DISPLAY directory.) If TriTel finds BADFILE.BBS in its main directory, it will automatically delete the uploaded file, add an appropriate entry in the callers log, and send a message to the sysop with BADFILE.BBS's contents. If TriTel finds GOODFILE.BBS in its main directory, it will add the file to the board using the normal procedure. In either case, TriTel will display the contents of the appropriate "BBS" file. So these files should provide pertinent information about the ZIP file's test. TestZIP ------- One utility for testing a ZIP archive is called TestZIP. (Available on The Lobster Buoy.) TestZIP can be used in conjunction with TriTel's archiving testing ability to optionally strip the ZIP file's comment, test the archive's integrity, optionally scan the ZIP file's contents for viruses, and optionally add a new ZIP comment to the archive. The TriTel Bulletin Board System 64 ODDS AND ENDS ------------- Obnoxious Callers ----------------- Sooner or later you will have to lock out a caller and although the user's record doesn't take up much disk space there's no sense in maintaining the record to just keep the caller locked out. TriTel eliminates the need for needlessly maintaining the caller's user record with a file called JOKER.DAT. JOKER.DAT is a straight ASCII text file with each line being the name of a caller you want to keep locked out. JOKER.DAT is an optional file and must reside in your boards main directory. The following is a sample JOKER.DAT file: ---------------------------------------------------------------- Joe Hacker Dr. Doom ---------------------------------------------------------------- Daily Limits ------------ You will probably want to give callers with different security levels different amounts of daily time and number of daily calls. After all, don't you as a sysop deserve more daily time on you own board than the average caller? TriTel supports a daily limits file called DLIMITS.DAT. DLIMITS.DAT is an ASCII text file and must reside in your boards WORK directory. You should note that any callers whose security levels aren't found in DLIMITS.DAT will be assigned your board's default daily time and number of daily calls. DLIMITS.DAT is optional file and uses the following format: The TriTel Bulletin Board System 65 ---------------------------------------------------------------- security level,time,calls . . . security level,time,calls Where: security level is a security level. time is the security level's daily time limit. calls is the security level's number of daily calls. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Special Keys ------------ There are a number of special keys that you can use while a caller is logged on to your board. They are as follows: Key(s) Description Adds 5 minutes to the caller's time. Takes 5 minutes away from the caller's time. Toggles the page bell on and off. Will allow you to adjust the caller's security level. TriTel will prompt you to enter the caller's new security level. Logs the caller off. Logs the caller off and marks his user record as "Locked Out". Toggles between the caller status window at the top of the display screen and a help screen about the above mentioned function keys. Enters chat mode. The chat can be ended by pressing . The TriTel Bulletin Board System 66 Allows you to drop to DOS. Toggles the caller status window on and off. By default, TriTel initially sets the caller status window off for local connections and on for remote connections. Packing the Message Base ------------------------ You may have noticed that included with your TriTel files is a file called TRIPACK.EXE. TRIPACK is the TriTel message base packer. It will remove any messages and messages that are older than the number of days you have indicated in your message conferences setup. TRIPACK was developed as an external program in order to permit you to pack your message base as an event. TRIPACK is a fairly easy program to use and can be executed with the following command line: TRIPACK /P /R /C:range Where: /P is an optional switch. If specified, all messages marked will be deleted. /R is an optional switch. If specified, the message base conference will be renumbered. TriTel support message numbers as high as 999,999. You should only renumber a message base conference if you think the conference will rollover this amount. Although TriTel will update its message threads internally, net mail message threads may be lost. For example, PCRelay maintains a list of message threads for each netmail conference. After renumbering your message conference, PCRelay will not be able to correctly indicate if a message has been replied to or not. /C:range is an optional switch. It is used to specify either a single conference or a range of conferences to be packed. A single conference is packed by specifying its number after the ":". For example, /C:4 would pack message conference 4. A range of conferences The TriTel Bulletin Board System 67 can be packed by separating them with a "-". For example, /C:5-9 will pack message conferences 5 through 9. The TriTel Bulletin Board System 68 SUPPORT ------- You may obtain assistance with a TriTel related problem by calling a TriTel support board. At present, there are two TriTel support boards: The Lobster Buoy 207-469-6556 and James Bond's Hideaway 207-942-6575. The Lobster Buoy is the home of TriTel and I will do my utmost to handle all of your problems. James Bond's Hideaway is run by Randy Hunt. Randy has been involved with TriTel practically from day one. He is intimately familiar with TriTel and is the only person besides myself who has access to TriTel's source code. I encourage you to call Randy's board if you have a problem. I am usually pretty bogged down with one project or another and as such I can't answer your questions as rapidly as Randy can. If you manage to stump Randy with a problem, he will of course pass it on to me. If you find what you think is a bug, please report it as soon as possible. TriTel has been extensively beta tested on both The Lobster Buoy and James Bond's Hideaway and all features appear to work as advertised. However, it would be rather naive of me to assume that all bugs have been weeded out. I'm certainly not the perfect programmer and as such I don't believe TriTel is as yet the perfect program. I've really tried to put TriTel through its paces, but I can't possibly test everything under all of the conditions a user might put it through. When reporting a suspected bug, please try to give me as much information as possible. The more information you provide will make it easier for me to duplicate the problem on my own system and correct the problem if one exists. As far as interim updates are concerned, registered TriTel owners will be notified of interim updates through a monthly TriTel newsletter. Minor updates, such as 1.11, 1.12, 1.13, etc., will be available for download from a TriTel support board. I will upload major updates, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, etc., to a number of major bulletin boards and online services across the country. Either way, it is your responsibility to obtain the latest version of TriTel. The TriTel Bulletin Board System 69 REGISTRATION ------------ Registration of TriTel is only $65.00. Please use the form at the end of this manual to register your board. When you register TriTel, you will receive the latest version of TriTel on disk, a printed manual and an encrypted key file called TRITEL.KEY. All you have to do is copy TRITEL.KEY into your board's main directory and voila instant registered copy. TRITEL.KEY can also be used to instantly register all future versions of TriTel and many TriTel-related utilities written by myself. For example, the TriTel UTI for PCRelay and MegaMail support is completely crippled without a legitimate TRITEL.KEY file. However, a registered TriTel sysop only has to obtain a copy of the TriTel UTI and he automatically has a fully working registered version of it. This will be true of all major TriTel-related utilities and doors that I author. Although I do believe in the shareware concept, I feel that this marketing strategy will encourage some sysops to register TriTel who might not otherwise do so. So think of TRITEL.KEY as your "key" to a wealth of free programs for TriTel. As in the case of the UTI, some UTI authors charge quite a bit for their work. But for a registered TriTel sysop, the TriTel UTI is free. If you find that TriTel is the BBS for you, then please register it. I have tried to make TriTel a quality product. It has taken hundreds of hours of programming and testing to get TriTel to where it is today. So please support past, present, and future TriTel development by registering your copy today. Just consider how much a commercial software product of TriTel's quality would cost you. By comparison, TriTel is quite a bargain. The TriTel Bulletin Board System 70 FILE FORMATS ------------ In order to encourage third-party development of TriTel-related utilities and doors, this section details the file formats TriTel uses. You should note that TriTel is written in C++ and as such all data types are C data types. For example, all strings are null-terminated C strings. SYSDAT.DAT ---------- Is located in the main TriTel directory and uses the following format: Byte Data Description Position Type 1 to 41 char [41] The board's name. 42 to 82 char [41] The sysop's name. 83 to 163 char [81] The modem's initialization string. 164 to 204 char [41] The board's DISPLAY directory path. 205 to 213 char [9] The date of the last call. 214 to 222 char [9] The board's starting date. 223 to 243 RESERVED for future use. 244 to 284 char [41] The board's WORK directory path. 285 to 289 char [5] The error correcting connection message. 290 to 291 unsigned The modem's maximum baud rate. 292 to 293 int The modem's serial port. 294 to 295 int The number of calls made today. 296 to 297 int The number of messages posted today. 298 to 299 int The number of uploads today. 300 to 301 int The number of downloads today. 302 to 303 int The default daily time limit. 304 to 305 int The default number of daily calls. 306 to 307 int The maximum time per call. 308 to 309 int The minimum sysop security level. 310 to 311 int The new user security level. 312 to 313 int The new user daily time limit. 314 to 315 int The page flag. TRUE for on/FALSE for off. 316 to 317 int The 300 baud caller flag. TRUE for 300 baud callers aren't allowed/FALSE for 300 baud calls are allowed. 318 to 319 int Upload time compensation ratio. 320 to 321 RESERVED for future use. 322 to 323 int The number of the last caller. 324 to 325 int The direct screen write flag. TRUE for direct screen writes/FALSE for The TriTel Bulletin Board System 71 BIOS writes. 326 to 327 int Maximum no keyboard input time in minutes. 328 to 329 int High speed modem flag. TRUE use high speed modem settings/FALSE don't use high speed modem settings. 330 to 331 int Locked serial port flag. TRUE keep serial port locked at maximum baud rate/FALSE baud rate follows connection rate. 332 to 335 long The total number of calls. USERS.DAT --------- Is TriTel's user records file and is located in TriTel's WORK directory. Each user record is as follows: Byte Data Description Position Type 1 to 31 char [31] The user's name. 32 to 47 char [16] The user's password. 48 to 78 char [31] The user's city/state. 79 to 91 char [13] The user's phone number. 92 to 100 char [9] The user's date of birth. 101 to 109 char [9] The date of the user's first call. 110 to 124 char [15] The date and time of the user's last call. 125 to 133 RESERVED for future use. 134 to 135 int The user's security level. 136 to 137 int The user's number of calls. 138 to 139 int The user's remaining time for today. 140 to 145 RESERVED for future use 146 to 147 int The user's expert mode flag. TRUE for expert mode is on/FALSE for expert mode is off. 148 to 149 int The lock out user flag. TRUE for the user is locked out/FALSE for the caller isn't locked out. 150 to 151 int The delete user flag. TRUE for the user is marked for deletion/FALSE for the user isn't marked for deletion. 152 to 153 int The number of times the user has called today. 154 to 155 int RESERVED for future use. 155 to 159 long The user's number of uploads. 160 to 163 long The user's number of downloads. The TriTel Bulletin Board System 72 MCONF.DAT --------- Is TriTel's message conference configuration file and is located in TriTel's WORK directory. Each conference record is as follows: Byte Data Description Position Type 1 to 2 int The conference's minimum security level. 3 to 4 int The conference's net mail flag. TRUE for net mail conference/FALSE for non-net mail conference. 5 to 6 int The conference's user deletion flag. TRUE if user deletion is allowed/FALSE if user deletion isn't allowed. 7 to 8 int The conference's backup flag. TRUE if the conference's files are to be saved during a message base pack/FALSE if the conference's files aren't backed up during a message base pack. 9 to 10 The number of days to save. Tells TRIPACK the number of days that messages are to be saved for. 11 to 51 char [41] The conference's description. 52 to 55 long The conference's highest message number. Mnnnn.PTR --------- Is a message conference's pointer file. Where the conference number is specified by nnnn and is a number from 0001 to 9999. Each message in the conference will have a record with the following format: Byte Data Description Position Type 1 to 15 char [15] The date and time the message was saved. 16 to 46 char [31] The name of the message's sender. 47 to 77 char [31] The name of who the message is to. 78 to 118 char [41] The message's subject. 119 to 120 int The message's echo flag. TRUE for echo/FALSE for don't echo. 121 to 122 int The message's thread flag. TRUE if the message has replies/FALSE if The TriTel Bulletin Board System 73 the message doesn't have replies. 123 to 124 int The message's private flag. TRUE if the message is private/FALSE if the message is public. 125 to 126 int The message's deleted flag. TRUE if the message is marked for deletion/FALSE if the message isn't marked for deletion. 127 to 128 int The message's received flag. TRUE if the message has been received/FALSE if the message hasn't been received. 129 to 132 long The message's position in Mnnnn.TXT. 133 to 136 long The message's number. 137 to 140 long If the message is a response to a previous message, this value will hold the original message's number. Otherwise, this will be 0. Mnnnn.IDX --------- Is a message conference's index file. Where the conference number is specified by nnnn and is a number form 0001 to 9999. Each message in the conference will have a record with the following format: Byte Data Description Position Type 1 to 4 unsigned long 32-bit CRC of the message sender's name. 5 to 8 unsigned long 32-bit CRC of the message addressee's name. 9 to 12 long The message's number. 13 to 16 long If the message is a response to a previous message, this value will hold the original message's number. Otherwise, this will be 0. Mnnnn.TXT --------- Is the message conference's text file. Where the conference number is specified by nnnn and is a number from 0001 to 9999. The start of each message is pointed to by an appropriate pointer in the conference's Mnnnn.PTR file. The message's text is made up of null-terminated strings with a null string indicating the end of the message. TriTel's internal line editor is limited to messages of 72 characters per line with up to 99 lines per The TriTel Bulletin Board System 74 message. This should be observed by offline mail doors and net mail systems. Mnnnn.LMR --------- Is a message conference's last message read file. Where the conference number is specified by nnnn and is a number from 0001 to 9999. Each user has a record with the following format: Byte Data Description Position Type 1 char The user's conference queue flag. TRUE if the conference is included in the user's conference queue. 2 to 5 long The highest message number the user has read in this conference. FAREA.DAT --------- Is TriTel's file area configuration file and is located in TriTel's WORK directory. Each file area record is as follows: Byte Data Description Position Type 1 to 2 int The file area's minimum security level. 3 to 4 int The file area's sort flag. TRUE if sort by file name/FALSE if sort by date. 5 to 45 char [41] The file area's description. 46 to 106 char [61] The file area's path. 107 to 167 char [61] The file area's upload path. EVENTS.DAT ---------- Is TriTel's event configuration file and is located in TriTel's WORK directory. Each event record is as follows: Byte Data Description Position Type 1 to 2 int The event's day of the week. 3 to 4 int The event flag. TRUE if the event has been executed/FALSE if the event hasn't been executed. 5 to 6 int The slide flag. TRUE for a sliding event/FALSE for a nonsliding event. The TriTel Bulletin Board System 75 7 to 12 char [6] The event's time. 13 to 21 char [9] The event's batch file. The TriTel Bulletin Board System 76 TRITEL RELATED PROGRAMS ----------------------- At the time of this writing, here is a list of TriTel-related programs that are available for downloading from The Lobster Buoy: TBANK12.ZIP By Randy Hunt TriTel Time Bank v1.2 is a door that allows callers to stash away their extra time for a rainy day. TRIMAL11.ZIP By Mark Goodwin TriMail v1.1 is a QWK mail door for TriTel. It will allow your callers to read their mail offline with a QWK compatible mail reader/replier like SLMR, EZ-Reader, Session Manager, WinQWK, etc. (This program will only work for registered TriTel sysops.) TRIMST13.ZIP By Randy Hunt TriTel Master File List Maker v1.3 is a utility to create a downloadable master file list for your board. Simply run this program in your midnight maintenance event and your callers can download a complete list of your board's files. TTFLST10.ZIP By Mark Goodwin FILESLST v1.0 is a utility to assist sysops in creating and maintaining TriTel file lists. FILESLST scans a file area's directory for files not found in the area's FILES.LST file. If a file isn't found in the FILES.LST file, FILESLST adds the file's name, size, date, and a dummy description to FILES.LST. TTQ&A.ZIP By Randy Hunt TTQ&A is a text file with many common questions and answers about setting up and running a TriTel BBS. Beginning TriTel sysops will find a lot of useful information in here. TTUTI10.ZIP By Mark Goodwin TriTel UTI v1.0 is a complete revision 2 Universal Text Interface for using PCRelay and MegaMail with TriTel. (This program will only work for registered TriTel sysops.) The TriTel Bulletin Board System 77 TZIP10.ZIP By Mark Goodwin TestZIP v1.0 is a ZIP file archive tester. Third Party Authors ------------------- I encourage all programmers to write TriTel-related programs. If you create a TriTel-related program, please upload it to The Lobster Buoy so other TriTel sysops can benefit from your efforts. The TriTel Bulletin Board System 78 TRITEL REGISTRATION FORM Registration of TriTel 1.0 is $65.00. Please enclose your check or money order with this form. Please answer all of the following questions: Name____________________________________________________________ Address_________________________________________________________ City__________________________State__________Zip________________ Telephone Number: Day_________________Night_____________________ BBS INFORMATION BBS Name________________________________________________________ BBS Phone Number________________________________________________ Modem___________________________________________________________ Maximum Baud Rate_______________________________________________ Did you have to alter the default initialization string_________ If yes, your initialization string______________________________ Would you like your board listed in future manuals______________ THANK YOU FOR REGISTERING TRITEL Mail To: Mark Goodwin P.O. Box 187 Orland, ME 04472