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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 6.02 - BBS DOORS =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= [6.02.01] - WHAT IS A BBS DOOR? Loosely put, a door, as the name implies, is a gateway outside the BBS software. Doors can be anything, games, database applications, credit card registration systems, just about anything. Most doors are run by the BBS itself or by a batch file outside the BBS. The door program itself interfaces with the communications and the modem, and takes over from the BBS software after it unloads. ============================================================ [6.02.02] - WHAT DOORS ARE AVAILABLE? Doors are so numerous that this question is hard to answer. If you have a purpose in mind, you can generally find a door to suit it. Listed below, misc resources where doors can be downloaded. ------------------------- From: dnskiesling@telis.org (David Kiesling) Subject: BBS Utilities http://www.calbbs.com/personal/p_00005/salty.htm Date: Sun, 24 Nov 1996 23:34:06 GMT --------------------------------------------------------- -----------SaltySoft BBS Utilities--------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------- http://www.calbbs.com/personal/p_00005/salty.htm Some for TriBBS, some compatible with many BBS types. The page is updated as new programs are released. MAILING LIST AVAILABLE! Sign up to get some email when new programs are online. I ACCEPT REQUESTS! Want some sort of BBS utility but can't find exactly what you're looking for? Let me know all the details and I'll do my best to make what you need. information: dnskiesling@telis.org =============================================================== [6.02.03] - HOW DO I INSTALL A DOOR? Say you just found the perfect game you want to add to your BBS, but you're unsure on how to configure it. This is a general set of steps to follow to configure most door programs out there: 1. Install the program. Some programs are compressed, needing uncompression programs such as PKUnzip, ARJ, etc. Others have their own installation software, which may or may not uncompress it. Others have a set of instructions in a file like READ.ME, READTHIS.1ST, README.NOW, etc. Make sure to follow the instructions as they are written, and try not to shortcut it unless you know what you are doing. 2. Doors usually have a configuration program or file containing various options. While most doors have options of their own, here are a few setup options and guidelines that are fairly common: a. DROP FILE NAME/TYPE: This file is the file that the door software gets most of its information from. From this file, the door can get the user name, speed, location, and many more items, some BBS dependant. In order for a door program to be supported, your BBS usually must support a similar drop file type. For instance, PCBoard, which supports it's own PCBOARD.SYS file and a generic file called DOOR.SYS, could only be used with door programs that can use one of these two files. Here are some sample BBS packages and their drop files: ------------------------------ BBS Drop File(s) ------------------------------ WWIV CHAIN.TXT PCBoard PCBOARD.SYS, DOOR.SYS RBBS DORINFO1.DEF RyBBS CURRUSER.BBS WildCat! CALLINFO.BBS There are some shareware programs that will translate door drop files into (probably) a format readable by your BBS. Check your local BBS's for such converters. After you know what drop file to use, configure the door to use it, as said in the docs. NOTE: Some drop files, depending on the BBS system, may also include the below configuration options, in which case you may not have to configure for them. b. COM PORT: The COM port the BBS is on. If you are running more than two lines, you may have trouble with this DOOR program unless it has controls over options b and c. This is because after going past two lines, you cannot assign standard COM port designations to each line. (See section on Multi-line door setups) c. IRQ - This is the Interrupt the communications port is on. If you are running one or two lines, you should select the default choice, or leave this option out, unless your serial board is oddly configured. For multi-line systems, you should choose the IRQ of the port it's on. (See section on Multi-line door setups) d. Base Address - This is the base address of the communications port. As with IRQ, unless running a multi-line system or an abnormal serial card, keep the defaults. If the door does not have defaults, the standard values for these are: - COM1, COM3: IRQ - 4 Base Address - 3f8 - COM2, COM4: IRQ - 3 Base Address - 2f8 e. Other modem/hardware information - Some doors will ask for various other information, such as whether to use hardware or software handshaking. Most of this should be set the same as the BBS is. If you are unsure, check the documentation. f. A note about VBRUN: Some doors that are written in basic need a utility called VBRUN in order to execute. This utility is BASIC's runtime module, and is usually not included in the door package. If, during testing, the door wants the location of a runtime module, this is what you need to look for. Most BBS's should have a copy, or know where to find one. After these are configured, various items about the door itself must be configured. For a game, it may be the number of turns per day, for a credit card system what types of cards are supported, etc. Configure these as you wish. 3. Test the door in local mode, if it is has such an option. Most doors have a command line switch, or some other way of runing the door in 'local' mode. Local mode allows you to use the door without a modem/serial line attached, and is usually good for testing. The purpose of testing ahead of time before adding it to the BBS is to make sure the the door itself is properly configured. Testing in local mode will pick up errors such as bad/missing filenames, improper configuration files, etc. 4. Install on the BBS itself - In all cases, check the documentation of the BBS software you have selected for proper configuration. Most BBS's do it one of two ways: (1) The door is run by the BBS itself. In this case, you need to configure the BBS software, which will usually have a set of configuration options relating to doors. When it asks you for the path to execute the door, input the path of the executable/batch file for the door. NOTE: Doors run on BBS's of this type may have problems with memory usage. For this reason, some BBS's have a special option to let you 'minimize' the memory usage. If you're experiencing memory problems, use this option. (2) The door is run outside the BBS in another batch file. In this case, an sample external batch is usually included with the BBS package. Most of these look similar to this: :cycle RunBBS ; Run the BBS program if errorlevel 50 goto DOOR_A if errorlevel 40 goto DOOR_B if errorlevel 30 goto DOOR_C if errorlevel 20 goto end ; test for each :DOOR_A tw2002 ; Run Trade Wars, a game goto cycle ; go back to the bbs :DOOR_B vote goto cycle ; vote and return :DOOR_C ccard goto cycle ; get a credit card, return :end ; end it off. In this manner, when the BBS exits, depending on the DOS errorlevel the batch file will execute a myriad of different programs. Some BBS's have preset errorlevels, and such BBS packages, like SpitFire, should have sample batch files with these presets. Others have configuration options to let you change the errorlevels, in which case you might have to create your own, personal batch file. The above should work for most BBS's of the batch file type. If you change this, remember that the 'if errorlevel' calls MUST be in descending order, because of the nature of the call. After the door itself is configured, you may have to add a menu entry or some other way of accessing it. Make sure, if sure BBS is up and running at the time, with non-sysop callers calling in, that the menu entry is set at sysop security level to prevent others from trying a potentially faulty door. 5. Test it online - This is a MUST. If you have another line, call into your BBS and test the door online, or have a friend do it if you don't have another line/modem to spare. If the door fails to operate, try tweaking the settings some, making sure that it has the same hardware/software setup as the BBS. If all goes well, you're ready to open it to the public. You can now change that sysop-only menu entry to a normal one. 6. Open it to the public - Now it's ready to be released into the wide world of BBS doors. After following these guidelines, you should be able to install and configure most door softwares. =============================================================== [6.02.04] - NOTES USING DOORWAY DOORWAY is a program that lets you run normal DOS programs that do not support comm routines, as doors. There is an inherent problem in this, though, because DOS programs are very finicky. Several DOS programs use direct screen writes, and, while DOORWAY supports these, can be very tricky. Graphics programs, obviously, are not supported. Another problem with common DOS programs is security. If the program offers anything like a shell to dos or a command running option, you probably don't want to offer it, unless you trust the people using it, or you found a way around. To install DOORWAY, use the above instructions, but when it comes to running the executable, run DOORWAY with its command line instead. If in need, most BBSs will carry a copy of DOORWAY, usually as DRWY____.ZIP or DOORWAY.ZIP. =============================================================== [6.02.05] - NOTES USING MULTI-LINE SYSTEMS 1. Multi-node systems, systems that use Windows, or DesqView, or OS/2, etc., should be aware that not all door programs were meant to be running at the same time. For instance, the old version of Trade Wars, a popular BBS game, could not have more than one node running it at one time. This is because of various restrictions that DOS, and the door program itself, put on file sharing. The door program will usually say in the documentation whether it supports Multi-node systems. If it does, follow the above configuration. If your BBS system does not share its configuration files, you must configure it for each node, or some nodes will be missing it. 2. Internal Multitaskers. These BBSs, such as The Major BBS, TBBS, Falken and more, do their multitasking internally, instead of with something like DesqView or Windows. Such BBS's may have an interface to use normal doors, but most require you to use only option modules meant for their BBS, since they didn't build it to multitask all kinds of programs. Use your manual to install such software, since it varies system to system. =============================================================== [6.1.06] - HOW DO I ADD ONLINE GAMES? There's a large population of computer users who use their modem to play interactive/real-time games online. Sysops who want to offer online games to their users have a huge list of games to pick from. I can't begin to count the amount of posts I've seen in the Alt.bbs newsgroups titled: "How do I add Doom to my BBS" or "What online games can I add to my BBS?." Suggestions to sysops: log on to other BBSes/online services, search their file libraries for online games. Several BBSes and FTP sites archive BBS utilites. Once you pick a game(s) - before installation, first make sure it meets the requirements to be compatible with the BBS software you're running. =============================================================== 
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