Delft, May 6th 1996 This document contains two extracts from the ALLFIX manual, explaining how the request processor works. Harald Harms. 6.3.9 Request Processor ALLFIX contains a fully functional request processor. A request processor is a program that handles file requests for your mailer. Normally, a mailer is capable of handling file requests, however, external utilities often offer more features. The request processor in ALLFIX is fully integrated with the other features in ALLFIX. This means that when someone file requests a file from your system, ALLFIX will send the person a .TIC file if the system is listed in the Node manager, and ALLFIX will send the file description of the file regardless of the type of BBS you use, as long as it is supported by ALLFIX. In this particular menu, there are a number of fields that control how ALLFIX works. Active This field determines whether or not the request processor is active. If you want to be able to use the ALLFIX request processor, then this field must be set to "Yes". Error This field is currently not available. Report This field can be used to define the template that is used sent to a system after processing a file request. Please see the sample RPREPORT template for more details. Groups This field defines the groups that are available in an unsecure mailer session. Sec groups This field defines the groups that area available in a secure mailer session. Please note that this feature is only available in registered mode. List This field defines the directories that are available in an unsecure mailer session. The format of this file is very simple. It must be a plain text file. Comments, designated with a semi-colon, ';', are allowed. It is also possible to define passwords per directory by placing the password behind a directory, preceeded with a exclamation mark, '!'. For example: 40 D:\BBS\FILES\AREA1 D:\BBS\FILES\AREA2 !PASSWORD In the above example, people can file request files from the directory D:\BBS\FILES\AREA2 if they use the correct file request password. Sec list This field defines the directories that are available in a secure mailer session. The format of this file is identical to the List file above. Please note that this particular feature is only available in registered mode. Max files This field can be used to define the maximum number of files to send per session. Max size This field can be used to define the maximum number of kilobytes te send per session. Min speed This field is currently not available. Max time This field is currently not available. The request processor can also work with an alias file. This alias file must have the following format if you want to use the request processor in ALLFIX: [magicname] [file1] [file2] ... [filen] [!password] For example: ALLFIX D:\BBS\FILES\AREA1\AFIX440.ZIP D:\BBS\FILES\AREA1\ALLFIX.REG BETA D:\BBS\FILES\AREA2\AFB_B004.ZIP !PASSWORD In the above example, when someone file requests magic name ALLFIX they will receive the AFIX440.ZIP archive and the ALLFIX.REG form. In order to file request the latest ALLFIX beta they have to file request magic name BETA with the password "PASSWORD". Please note that ALLFIX will use the above format for the alias file if the request processor has been active, by setting the active field in this menu to "Yes". When handling a file request, ALLFIX uses the following steps: 41 1. Read in the List directories. 2. If the session issecure, then read in theSec list directories. 3. If the requesting system is listed in the Node manager, then give the node access to the Public groups (as defined in the AreaMgr options menu) and to the groups he has been given access to in the Node manager. 4. If the requesting system is not listed in the Node manager, then give the system access to the normal Groups, as defined in this menu, and if it is a secure session, then also give the node access to the Sec groups. 5. Before searching for any files, all service requests are handled. Please see the Magic filename section for more information on service requests. 6. The Alias file is scanned for magic names. If a match is found, then ALLFIX will not continue searching for a match in any of the directories or fileechos. 7. If there are file requests left that were not matched in the Alias file, then ALLFIX will scan the fileechos that the node has access to and then the list directories to which the node has access. 8. After processing the file requests, a report is written and sent to the node along with any files that were file requested. If the requesting system is listed in the Node manager, then ALLFIX will send a .TIC file accompanying each file which was file requested from a fileecho. The ALLFIX request processor is very easy to install in your mailer. For FrontDoor style mailers, ALLFIX expects the following command line options in the following order: Aka Requesting system's aka. Sysop Requesting systems sysop name. Secure The string "SECURE" for secure sessions and "UNSECURE" for unsecure sessions. Response The name of the response file which is returned the mailer after processing a file request. The name of this file is provided by the mailer. 42 Rquests The name of the file containing the file requests. This file is provided by the mailer. Below is an example of how to install ALLFIX in FrontDoor. D:\ALLFIX\ALLFIX.EXE Rp =A =O =X =T =R ALLFIX is also capable of working with SRIF files. These files are created by some of mailers and effectively contain all the information that ALLFIX may need. When using ALLFIX with a mailer that supports SRIF files, you must specify the name of the SRIF file on the commandline. Example: D:\ALLFIX\ALLFIX.EXE Rp [name of SRIF file] Most mailers should have a macro which will expand to the name of the SRIF file. [from the ServiceReq type in the Magic filename manager] ServiceReq This feature is only available in registered mode. This function can be used to execute a specific program when a magic filename is requested. This feature could be used, for example, to allow a registration site to file request a new key for a new user. A service request is given a magic name, which can be defined in this menu. Each service request has a password, which the user must also provide. The program that has to be executed can also be defined. It is possible that the program needs a number of command line options which may need to be provided by the user. This can be using an at symbol, '@'. For each '@' character, that ALLFIX encounters in the command line, ALLFIX will use the next string entered by the user. For example, let us assume that the following has been entered as the command to execute: D:\REG\KEYGEN %s %a @ @ In the above example, the two '@' characters are expanded to the two strings which were file requested by the system. In order to execute this service request, the user would have to "file request" the service request name, password, and also two other "magic names" which are password on to the KEYGEN program by ALLFIX. For example: FREQ: KEYGEN !PASSWORD Harald Harms In the above example, the service request "KEYGEN" is executed. Since the command line for the program to execute contains two '@' characters, the next two "magic names" which are "requested" are passed to the KEYGEN program as command line options. Below is a list of the options in this menu: Alias The name of this service request. In the example above, the Alias is "KEYGEN". 65 Password The password required to execute this service request. In the example above, the password is "PASSWORD". Command The command to execute for this service request. In the example above, the command is "D:\REG\KEYGEN %s %a @ @". The %s and %a macros are expanded to the requesting sysop name and aka, respectively. Directory After the command has been executed, ALLFIX will scan this directory for any files. ALLFIX will send whatever is contained in this directory to the requesting system. The files will be deleted after they are sent! In the above example, the program KEYGEN may place a new key file in this directory. This means that when someone request a key, they automatically get a new keyfile.