Installing FIDO-Net on your PCBoard (revision 2) By Tom Carroll January 7th, 1993 Why am I doing this? I began searching for a suitable information packet that would assist me in the installation of FIDO on my PCBoard system. I never found one. What did I do? I decided to drudge my way through the 148 page FrontDoor manual and see if I could install this monster on my own. Well, I did it with the help of some great friends who didn't believe I had to do this on my own and earn a "right of passage". This document is being released because of all the troubles I had getting my system to run somewhat smoothly. I had a lot of unanswered questions, and I still do, but the majority of them have been answered by other Sysops. Just a light foreword for the weary: You can do this! However, the key to success is an extensive RUN.BAT file. This is the key to your world now. The BOARD.BAT is only a passing thought on my system anymore. My actual RUN.BAT is nearly 8k! I know, you're probably saying "This is too crazy for me!", but you can do it. Don't try to become FIDO's "number one best node around" over night. Take your time, get the mailer up and running to where it will transfer netmail, and pass your callers to the BBS. That's the most important part. Next you can work on the mail part and creating conferences. While all this is going on, you can run your events manually, or jump into the events part right away, but be sure to remember that everything is based on errorlevels and batch files. After everything is basically working and singing along you can then make your improvements, FREQing, FILE routing, secure sessions, etc... I have only been in FIDO for less than 9 months, and I can say there's not a whole lot I don't know about it now, but then again I'm a programmer! Here is a step by step guide for you to follow: 1. The first thing you will need to do, is set aside about a weeks worth of time, because this is no small task to set up, but then again, maybe with this it will be. I read all my documentation for about two weeks before I decided to jump into this and I still feel I wasn't well prepared. Do you remember your first door that you installed? I do, and I would say this was 1000 times harder, and I lost a lot of hair over this. But now that it's up and running, I feel great and my hair is returning to normal! 2. Download some files or get these from some local boards. (I will make sure all these files are available on SALTAIR when I upload this help file) REQUIRED FILES FD202.ARJ ----- FrontDoor v2.02 (Front end mailer) BNU170.ARJ ---- BNU v1.7 (Fossil driver) FP13S.ZIP ----- FIDOPCB v1.3 (Mail tosser/scanner) NODELIST.XXX -- A FIDO Node list (current preferably) XLAX_256.ZIP -- XLAXDIFF v2.56 (Used to apply nodediffs) PKX35A35.EXE -- PKXARC PKARC v3.5 (Used to uncompress ARC'ed mail) TTP22.ARJ ----- Tic-2-PCB v2.2 (Used to import files) P2FDC10.ARJ --- PCBoard 2 FrontDoor Console v1.0 (Used to display the last human caller to your BBS) NN12.ARJ ------ A small batch utility to detect new NODELIST's, NODEDIFF's and FIDONEWS files. Recommended files: PKZ110.EXE ---- PKZIP & PKUNZIP v1.10 ARJ230.EXE ---- ARJ v2.30 PK361.EXE ----- PKPAK & PKUNPAK v3.61 LHA213.EXE ---- LHA v2.13 3. Now create some directories to hold your Frontend mailer and associated files. I set my system up like this: (next page) C:\ДДДї ЪДДДДДДДДДї ГДґ PCB\ і і АДДДДДДДДДЩ і і ЪДДДДДДДДДї ГДґ FD\ ГДї ДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДї і АДДДДДДДДДЩ і і і і ЪДДДДДДДДДДБДДДДДДДДДДї і і ЪДДДДДДДДДї і All your Frontdoor і і ГДґ NODE\ ГДї і files go into this і і і АДДДДДДДДДЩ і і directory. I would і і і і і place this dir. in і і і ЪДДДДДДДДДДБДДДДДДДДДДї і your path. і і і і This is the dir. I і і і і і і keep my NODELIST in і і You will also keep і і і і which you may put і і your RUN.BAT file і і і і as a sub-dir. of FD і і in this directory. і і і АДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДЩ АДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДЩ і і і і ЪДДДДДДДДДї і ГДґ MAIL\ ГДї і і АДДДДДДДДДЩ і і і ЪДДДДДДДДДДБДДДДДДДДДДї і і і This is where my і і і і incoming netmail і і і і waits to be read. і і і АДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДЩ і і ЪДДДДДДДДДї і ГДґ FILES\ ГДї і і АДДДДДДДДДЩ і і і ЪДДДДДДДДДДБДДДДДДДДДДї і і і All incoming files і і і і and mail bundles і і і і are stored in this і і і і directory. і і і АДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДЩ і і ЪДДДДДДДДДї і АДґ PACKET\ ГДї і АДДДДДДДДДЩ і і ЪДДДДДДДДДДБДДДДДДДДДДї і і Location of all out і і і -bound mail packets і і АДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДЩ і ЪДДДДДДДДДї АДґ F_ECHO\ ГДї АДДДДДДДДДЩ і ЪДДДДДДДДДДБДДДДДДДДДДї і This is where all і і my FIDO conference і і message bases are. і АДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДДЩ 4. Next, unarj the FD202 file into your C:\FD directory. You will have quite a few files in this directory. One thing that I recommend is printing the manual, there's a lot of helpful information that you'll need, but some that you won't. It's 148 pages long, plus whatever the updates are. This manual is not written by people that know how to explain things very easily. There's a lot of technical jargon that I considered needless for my information at this point. After unarjing the files, run the program called FDSETUP.EXE. Go through your menus and put in your info. Before you're issued a node number, you'll need to enter a fake address until you receive a number from your NET COORDINATOR (NC). He will issue you a node number and then you will be added to the nodelist on the following Saturday. For now enter 1:NET/9999 (you will have to find out what net you're located within and enter that number after the colon ":" and before the "/") if you're in North America. Be sure to enter the following error levels in your modem configuration screen: 300 - 120 1200 - 120 2400 - 120 4800 - 120 9600 - 120 12000 - 120 14000 - 120 19200 - 120 38400 - 120 I wouldn't worry too much about the events scheduler right now. Lets just get you up and running so it'll answer the phone and let your callers on the BBS. 5. After setting up your config in FDSETUP, you will need to unarchive your nodelist into your FD\NODE directory. Once you have done that, you'll need to edit your FDNODE.CTL file, which is also located in the FD\NODE directory, to account for all of the local exchanges, in-state long distant numbers and so on. Here is an example of my FDNODE.CTL file: ZONE 1 <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< This is what zone to compile with FDNC (1-6) PHONE 1:347/9 375-0507 <<< Number to my hub. This number was wrong in my DIAL <<<<<<<<<<ДДї last nodelist. 1-509-222 222 і 1-509-372 372 і 1-509-373 373 АДДДДД-<<< This begins my dial translation table which 1-509-375 375 tells Frontdoor's Node compiler to strip all 1-509-376 376 the 1-509-XXX from the numbers that match XXX. 1-509-377 377 1-509-545 545 The node compiler will look for each occurrence 1-509-546 546 of 1-509-XXX and replace it with XXX. All of 1-509-547 547 these number are considered a local call from 1-509-582 582 my dialing prefix. 1-509-586 586 1-509-588 588 (i.e. 1-509-582-9493 will be 582-9493) 1-509-735 735 1-509-736 736 You will also need to change any numbers that 1-509-783 783 are located in your area code, but are not a 1-509-943 943 local call from your prefix. I have this set 1-509-946 946 as my last line in the dial translation. 1-509-967 967 1-509 1 <<<<<<<<ДДДДДДДДД<<< Then after it's done with all the local numbers, END it removes the -509 from the rest of them. 6. Now change back to the C:\FD directory and type FDNC. This should compile your nodelist. After this is done, you only need to do one more thing before you're able to run the mailer. (The hard part is over, I THINK!) 7. Unarj the BNU170 file into your UTILS directory. The only file I kept was the BNU.COM file. If you want the BNU.SYS file, then delete the BNU.COM file. I run the .COM file, so I can disable the interrupt trap when I chain to my BBS. I've heard of people having problems with a Fossil driver, and others say they don't effect anything. It's your call. One other thing I would like to mention here is there's an option to unload and reload the fossil driver (should you choose to use this method), this may cause problems and this is why: "Never completely unload the driver and then reload it. This may cause problems by leaving holes in memory". I use the /Q option which disables the interrupt handler. This is the safest way and it ensures your system won't be hanging up due to corrupt memory. If you use the .COM file, just type BNU /Pa /Lb:ccccc,8n1 /F /Pa = Number of ports active /Lb = Comm port number (L0=COM1, L1=COM2 etc.) ccccc = Comm port baud rate (i.e. 38400) 8n1 = Data bits-Parity-Stop bits /F = Fast ANSI screen writes My AUTOEXEC.BAT entry looks like this: BNU /P1 /L1:38400,8n1 /F 8. Guess what? You're now ready to fire off the FrontDoor mailer. Path to your C:\FD directory and type FD . You should see the mailer come up and try to initialize the modem. If it's successful, it'll say "Waiting for call or event" If it doesn't, then something must be wrong. By now, you should've gotten your NC's FIDO address. If not, call a local FIDO BBS and ask that Sysop what the NC's FIDO address is. 9. Press ALT-E (wait for the editor to come up) and enter the NC's address, then press enter. Next enter a subject, such as NEW NODE and press enter. You may now enter your information, most NC's like the following info: Request to have a node number assigned to my system: NAME----------: Address-------: Voice Phone---: Data Phone----: Machine Make--: Model - CPU---: Speed---------: MultiTasker---: Lan Software--: Operating Sys-: Disk Storage--: Mailer Softw--: Fossil Driver-: Mail Tosser---: Modem Speed---: Modem Mfr.----: Modem Supports: Modem Model---: Mfr. Date-----: Bios Ver.-----: Online--------: BBS Name------: BBS Software--: AreaFix Passwd: Raid Password-: Compression---:(ZIP, LZH, ARJ, ARC, PAK) Press ALT-S and a menu should come up and from there you can press CTRL-I (for Immediate), CTRL-C (for Crash), CTRL-D (for Direct delivery) and then enter. To save the message press CTRL-Z. Once you're finished in the editor, press ALT-Q to return to the mailer. Your mail should go out to your NC within 5 minutes. 10. If you want to run events on your system, which almost every Sysop does, you'll need to forget about PCBoard's internal event system for now... FrontDoor has a very extensive events manager. You can have as many events a day that you wish (up to 30). I didn't like this at first because it was separate from PCBoard, but now I don't see how I was doing everything in one event. You will have one event as a minimum. The Zone Mail Hour (ZMH), which is at 0900 Greenwich mean time (GMT) for Zone 1 (North America). You can then schedule other events to do your BBS maintenance, or you can just set everything up to run consecutively. This is a very powerful tool! 11. Now that your mailer is up and running, you need to know how to get your callers to your BBS from the "Press Escape twice to enter PCBoard" prompt when the mailer answers the phone. There are four batch files I use, plus several environment variables. I will start with the RUN.BAT file. @ECHO OFF BNU /C /M- <<<<<< This recaptures the interrupt for the fossil driver. REM --------- DELETE THE BBS CHAIN FILE --------- IF EXIST C:\FD\DOBBS.BAT DEL C:\FD\DOBBS.BAT IF %LASTON%==LOCAL GOTO SWAPFILE <<< I use this to control the local mode GOTO CONTINUE in my BOARD.BAT file which ensures :SWAPFILE that any callers don't get messed up CD \PCB from when I use the BBS in local mode. COPY BOARDC.BAT BOARD.BAT /V SET LASTON=CALLER I do this so I can use my doors in :CONTINUE local mode without causing conflicts CD \FD with my mailer. FD REM --------- CHECK ERROR LEVELS RETURNED BY MAILER --------- IF ERRORLEVEL 125 GOTO LOCAL <<<< These error levels are setup in the IF ERRORLEVEL 120 GOTO BOARD FDSETUP program. Use the Modem error IF ERRORLEVEL 75 GOTO WAKEUP levels menu to setup your connection IF ERRORLEVEL 65 GOTO EVENT speeds, and what error levels FD will IF ERRORLEVEL 10 GOTO QUIT exit with when it receives a human IF ERRORLEVEL 32 GOTO MAILOUT caller. IF ERRORLEVEL 31 GOTO MAILIN IF ERRORLEVEL 8 GOTO ERROR IF ERRORLEVEL 7 GOTO ERROR IF ERRORLEVEL 6 GOTO ERROR This will also test for exit errors by IF ERRORLEVEL 5 GOTO ERROR FD and echo them to the screen. IF ERRORLEVEL 3 GOTO ERROR IF ERRORLEVEL 2 GOTO ERROR IF ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO ERROR REM --------- SEND CALLER TO THE BBS --------- :BOARD BNU /Q /M- <<<<<<<<<<< - I disable my fossil driver DOBBS <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< - Call the batch file FD creates which calls EXEBBS REM --------- LOG ON TO THE BBS IN LOCAL MODE --------- :LOCAL BNU /Q /M- <<<<<<<<<<< - I disable my fossil driver SET LASTON=LOCAL <<<< - SET the LASTON environment variable CD \PCB COPY BOARDL.BAT BOARD.BAT /V << - COPY my local board.bat file BOARD <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< - CALL my BOARD.BAT REM --------- PROCESS FRONT DOOR ERROR --------- :ERROR CLS IF ERRORLEVEL==8 ECHO ERROR: FRONT DOOR ALREADY LOADED! USE EXIT TO RETURN IF ERRORLEVEL==7 ECHO ERROR: FOSSIL DRIVER NOT LOADED OR DETECTED! IF ERRORLEVEL==6 ECHO ERROR: INCORRECT FOSSIL VERSION FOR FRONT DOOR! IF ERRORLEVEL==5 ECHO ERROR: CANNOT INITIALIZE THE MODEM! IF ERRORLEVEL==3 ECHO ERROR: LESS THAN 32KB OF DISK SPACE AVAILABLE! IF ERRORLEVEL==2 ECHO ERROR: EXTERNAL ERROR - MISSING PATH, FILES, ETC. IF ERRORLEVEL==1 ECHO ERROR: INTERNAL ERROR BNU /C <<<<<< - This recaptures int 14 so you don't get any fossil errors GOTO DONE REM --------- EXIT FRONT DOOR NORMALLY --------- :QUIT ECHO Normal Exit! :DONE BNU /Q /M- <<<<<<<<<<< - I disable my fossil driver Whew! That's a bare bones batch file for the mailer. This should at least get you from the mailer halfway to your BBS. The next file is called EXEBBS.BAT which looks like this: @ECHO OFF SET CONTYPE=/ERR IF "%1"=="16800" SET SPEED=7 I'm using an HST/DS 16.8k modem, so I IF "%1"=="14400" SET SPEED=6 have modified my connect strings to IF "%1"=="9600" SET SPEED=5 the HST's 16800 connect speed and then IF "%1"=="2400" SET SPEED=3 pass that to PCBoard as 38400. I pass IF "%1"=="1200" SET SPEED=2 19200 if the connection is 14400, and IF "%4"=="/NONE" SET CONTYPE= 9600 should it be 9600. This will give IF "%4"=="" SET CONTYPE= PCBoard a closer calculation time when SET EVENT=%3 a download is requested. BOARD %1 Your EXEBBS.BAT file is called by a batch file that you must tell FrontDoor to create when it exits after a modem connect. This file is called DOBBS.BAT and it will contain the connect speed (passed as %1), the comm port (as %2), minutes until the next event (as %3), and the connection type (as %4). i.e. EXEBBS 9600 2 159 /ARQ/HST/HST Now for the final batch file. Your BOARD.BAT. @ECHO OFF C: CD \PCB SET PCB=/BYTECRED:2 /CONNECT:%1 /MAIN /NOPROMOTE /SWAP /UPCRED:2 IF EXIST REMOTE.BAT RENAME REMOTE.BAT REMOTE.SYS IF EXIST EVENT.BAT RENAME EVENT.BAT EVENT.SYS IF EXIST DOOR.BAT DEL DOOR.BAT IF EXIST ENDPCB DEL ENDPCB PCB145 /C:%SPEED% %CONTYPE% /EVENT:%EVENT% IF EXIST REMOTE.BAT REMOTE IF EXIST DOOR.BAT DOOR IF EXIST EVENT.BAT EVENT IF EXIST ENDPCB GOTO END BOARD :END RUN NOTE: I have my C:\PCB directory in my path Your callers should be able to connect to your BBS now. In order for your system to drop out of PCBoard and reload FrontDoor upon a caller hanging up you need to set the option for PCBoard to drop to DOS after each call. You do this by loading PCBSetup and going to Options screen #1. The question is the 11th question on the left side of the screen. 12. This has pretty much gotten the FrontDoor mailer up and working. I'm sure you're probably getting tired, but if you're like me, you just want to keep going. Now we need to get you setup with a mail tosser scanner. But before we do this, we need to determine how and what messages we will be getting from the NC. The reason for the password that you sent for AreaFix, and Raid, is because you can automatically add and drop conferences, and file distribution networks. All you need to do is get the USEFIX.ZIP file that I uploaded to SALTAIR. It will explain how to use the AreaFix features on the NC's server. Once you have your message areas picked out, and you know the EXACT conference names, you can then setup your echo conferences, and your FIDOPCB to import/export your FIDO messages. 13. You will first need to setup your echo areas in PCBoard, just like any other network, or local conferences. If you've never setup an echo conference, be sure to set the echo flags to yes. As an example, I set all my conference names with a network identifier, such as F_PCBNet for the FIDO conference PCBNet. I also set my message base names to the same names as the conference or as close as possible and then make a sub-directory for all the message base files instead of placing them all into their own directories. Such as MSGS: C:\F_ECHO\PCBNet, which makes for much easier backups when you just want to do a backup of the entire FIDO message base. Some like this, some don't, it's up to you. 14. Now, you should have time to go grab a beer, pop, or whatever you fancy, because you're going to have to print (yes PRINT) the FIDOPCB manual. The FIDOPCB.CFG file is pretty straight forward until you get down to the bottom area where you set up your conference areas. I have included my config file for your convenience to assist you in completing this last step. This is only if you plan to manually enter the configuration info. Otherwise you can use the FPCONFIG program that was included in version 1.3 INTERFACE frontdoor NET_TOSS pcboard NETWORK off NO_BELL off IGNORE_ECHO on MAX_MSGS 9999 DUPE_CHECK 200 MAIL c:\fd\mail PACKET c:\fd\packet FILE c:\fd\files BAD c:\fd\bad WORK c:\fd\work LOST_MAIL c:\f_echo NET_MAIL c:\f_echo PCBOARD c:\pcb FRONTDOOR c:\fd ZIP UNZIP ARC UNARC ARJ UNARJ LZH UNLZH ORIGIN 1:347/10 DOMAIN fidonet.org SYSOP Tom Carroll TAG The Data Shop, Kennewick WA (509)582-9493 (HST) AREA 1 Apple C:\F_ECHO DUPE AREA_MSGS Apple AREA 2 Pascal C:\F_ECHO DUPE AREA_MSGS Pascal AREA 3 Trek C:\F_ECHO DUPE AREA_MSGS Trek AREA 4 Windows.Prog C:\F_ECHO DUPE AREA_MSGS Win-Pgm AREA 5 Humor C:\F_ECHO DUPE AREA_MSGS Humor AREA 6 Quik_Bas C:\F_ECHO DUPE AREA_MSGS QuickBas AREA 7 Ham_Tech C:\F_ECHO DUPE AREA_MSGS Ham_Tech AREA 8 Windows C:\F_ECHO DUPE AREA_MSGS Windows AREA 9 CNW_Net C:\F_ECHO DUPE AREA_MSGS CNW_Net AREA 10 For-Sale C:\F_ECHO DUPE AREA_MSGS ForSale AREA 11 TC_Net C:\F_ECHO DUPE AREA_MSGS TC_Net AREA 12 ASP C:\F_ECHO DUPE AREA_MSGS ASP AREA 13 Military_People C:\F_ECHO DUPE AREA_MSGS Military AREA 14 PCBNet C:\F_ECHO DUPE AREA_MSGS PCBNet AREA 15 Teen C:\F_ECHO DUPE AREA_MSGS Teen AREA 16 OS2 C:\F_ECHO DUPE AREA_MSGS OS2 NODE 1:347/9 1-16 SYSOP Vic Parrish ^^^^ <<< Make sure you tell FIDOPCB what COMPRESS ARC echo's go where. This is not done FLOW_TYPE NORMAL in the config program! Once you have your config file completed, and a packet in your FD\FILES directory, FIDOPCB will import that packet into your PCBoard message bases. One problem that I ran into, was that I didn't do a pack on the message bases after creating them. You MUST do this so FIDOPCB will see both the XXXXX and XXXXX.NDX message files. Also, as the FIDOPCB docs state, you must create two other echo areas, one is called MATRIX (message base file name. I Called that conference F_NetMail) and LOST (which no one but myself has access to). These files must exist also, or FIDOPCB will not work. 15. Polling and sending mail. To poll or send mail to other nodes automatically, you have to edit a file called ROUTE.FD in your \FD directory. This file has a basic KEYWORD {option} format. To get more information than what is discussed here, please consult the FrontDoor manual. This is what my ROUTE.FD file looks like: No-Route MYNET <<<<<<<<<---- This tells FrontDoor to send all mail that Hold !CM is addressed to systems in my net is to sent Route-To 1:347/17 1:* 2:* directly, and others are routed through ; 1:347/17. !CM says to hold mail for systems ; 00:00 - 00:01 (Daily) that don't have net-mail capability. Schedule @ * ; 00:00 - 23:59 (Daily) Schedule A * <<<<<<<<<<<<<---- The '*' means this event applies to ALL ; 01:00 - 02:00 (Daily) (Zone Mail Hour) Schedule B * UnHold !CM <<<<<<<<<<<---- All FIDO nodes are supposed to be available for Zone Mail Hour. ; 03:00 - 03:30 (Wednesdays & Sundays) Schedule D * POLL 1:347/17 <<<<<<---- I poll my NC twice a week. ; 23:00 - 23:30 (Daily) Schedule E * <<<<<<<<<<<<<<---- This is where I get my nightly mail runs. POLL 1:103/132 I will connect and transfer any mail that POLL 1:347/9 hasn't been delivered to me for the day. POLL 1:203/540 The Schedule "Tag" is the Tag letter you use in the events manager to run a FIDO event. To execute an external event, you use the "Tag" 'X' to tell FrontDoor that it is to drop out with a specified errorlevel. The way I send my mail out is by creating an external event that executes 3 minutes before the "E" event (23:27) which exits with an errorlevel of 65. If you look at my batch file RUN.BAT, errorlevel 65 is used to extract out going mail from the BBS and then reload FrontDoor. Upon connection to my hub's, all mail is then successfully transferred. In the behavior section of the event declaration, I force these events to run and not to allow any callers. However, I do select "End event when no more to send" option. This way when all my hub's have been polled, the event ends. I have the "E" event scheduled for a duration of 30 minutes. I strongly recommending you ask your hub what the best time would be for you to poll their system. If you want to manually POLL a node anytime from the mailer, you can type and the nodes address or sysops name and it will POLL them for any waiting mail, but it will not export or send any mail. If you do a manual export of mail, you can then use the key to send mail to a node. Specify whether you want it to send All messages, or Crash mail only. 16. File areas and distribution files. You will be receiving, as a minimum, two files per week. They are NODEDIFF.Ann and FNEWSnnn.xxx. NODEDIFF.Ann is the weekly node difference update file. This file is used to update your nodelist and it is typically less than 100k which makes for downloading a lot simpler & faster than the 500 - 600k (compressed) NODELIST. FNEWSnnn.xxx is the weekly edition of the FidoNews. These two files are required by all FIDO systems, so there's no getting out of it... The reason I'm bringing this up is because these files may seem mysterious, and they have a counter part. It's a file who's name will be TKnnnnnn.TIC, which is a description file of the actual archive. It contains basic information on the archive such as the date it was made, who made it, the CRC-32 checksum, a short description, who's seen it. A lot of new FIDO nodes are not warned of these little buggers which are sent to you automatically, and they begin to pile up without any notice. These will be located in the FD\FILES directory. You can use the program called Tic-2-PCB (TTP22.ZIP or later) to process these files into your PCBoard directories. This utility is free, and authored by me. Two other utilities might be useful to you, and they are Node/News (NN12.ZIP) and PCBoard 2 FrontDoor Console (P2FDC10.ARJ). These to are free and written by me. Node/News keeps track of your latest NODEDIFF, NODELIST, and FIDONEWS files and returns an errorlevel if they are new, and it is for use in batch files. PCBoard 2 FrontDoor Console is a program that will place the last caller info the To: record in the FrontDoor console so you can see who the last caller to your BBS was. 17. File requests is the last section you should be familiar with. File requests are exactly as they sound. If you allow them, then that means some- one may download any files you list for free without logging into the BBS. This is one of the bigger privileges a sysop gets when they become a FIDO node since they can do quick and dirty downloads without spending a lot of time online and wasting precious dollars. To make a FILE Request, just enter the Editor , and type the file name for the subject (or magic name, which is an alias for the actual file) and then press to make it a request. If you want to send a file, just do the same, but press instead. Most systems will not (and should not) allow requests during Zone Mail Hour. 18. Well, that pretty much wraps it up for a bare bones, basic installation. I have included my batch files at the end of this document for you to use, or review to get your own ideas. If you have any problems, once you get your mailer up and running, you can net-mail me at 1:347/10, or call my BBS at (509)582-9493 (HST/DS 16.8k). I will do whatever I can to help you along. Please remember that I have a different system than you do, so some of this may not work for you. DEFINITIONS: (file sizes are for uncompressed files) NODELIST - This is a list of all FIDO mail systems for the world. This list has phone numbers, system names, sysop names, and system FLAGS for all nodes listed. This file is very large. Mine is over 1.5 megs in size uncompressed, and 550-600k (ARJ'ed). NODEDIFF - This is a file that is distributed every week (I get mine Saturday) and it is used with the XLAXDIFF program to update your NODELIST file to either add, remove, or some other changes for any system. This ensures you have current info on any system that you may want to call. This file is usually under 100k compressed. FNEWSnnn - FIDONEWS is distributed every week in compressed format. You can place it in a directory for your callers to download, or you my place it in an on-line bulletin for reading. Normally around 15k compressed. TKxxxxxx.TIC - These are file area descriptions that are distributed once a week for each file area that you're connected with. There is a program made specifically for PCBoard which I wrote, and it will import these file descriptions directly into PCBoard file directories. It's called Tic-2-PCB. These description files are normally 1000 - 2000 bytes uncompressed. xxxxxxxx.MO0 - These files will be named using a checksum of your address and your NC's address. The suffix will be the fist 2 letters of the day and the Nth number of the mail bundle. xxxxxxxx.PKT - These are conference packets that are either being sent, or received. This is also called ARCMail. nnnnnnnn.MSG - Individual messages created by FrontDoor. ROUTE.FD - This file determines how all mail from your system is routed. I have mine set up to route all non-local system mail through my NC. It is probably best to read the FrontDoor manual to get a better understanding. NAMES.FD - This is another config file for FD. It supposedly acts as a name directory for any systems that you call frequently. You can enter the Name and Node number of a system, and then have a single letter or key sequence to call it up like a macro within the FrontDoor Message editor. FDNODE.CTL - This is the control file that tells FrontDoors Node Compiler how to compile the node list. There are a number of different items that you can place in this file. (It must end with an END statement) ALIAS.FD - This file acts as an ALIAS file for your file names. As you will see there will be messages that say something like FREQ TIC2PCB (or similar) and what this is saying is that I have an alias setup for my program. If you file request TIC2PCB from me, I have an entry in my ALIAS.FD that looks like this: TIC2PCB D:\DWS2\TTP*.ARJ This tells frontdoor when it receives the file request for this alias, it's supposed to send this file. Most common "MAGIC" file names are NODELIST, NODEDIFF, FNEWS, and FILES RUN.BAT @ECHO OFF REM --------- RETURNED TO HERE AFTER EACH EXIT --------- :START BNU /C :RESUME REM --------- DELETE THE BBS CHAIN FILE --------- IF EXIST C:\PCB\FD\DOBBS.BAT DEL C:\PCB\FD\DOBBS.BAT IF %LASTON%==LOCAL GOTO SWAPFILE GOTO CONTINUE :SWAPFILE CD \PCB COPY BOARDC.BAT BOARD.BAT /V SET LASTON=CALLER :CONTINUE CD \FD REM --------- CHECK FOR NEW NODE & FIDO NEWS FILES --------- NN LIST C:\FD\FILES\ N IF ERRORLEVEL 2 GOTO NODELIST NN DIFF C:\FD\FILES\ N IF ERRORLEVEL 2 GOTO NODEDIFF NN NEWS C:\FD\FILES\ N IF ERRORLEVEL 2 GOTO FIDONEWS TIC2PCB TIC2PCB.CFG FD REM --------- CHECK ERROR LEVELS RETURNED BY MAILER --------- IF ERRORLEVEL 240 GOTO BOARD IF ERRORLEVEL 125 GOTO LOCAL IF ERRORLEVEL 120 GOTO BOARD IF ERRORLEVEL 96 GOTO BOARD IF ERRORLEVEL 76 GOTO EVENT2 IF ERRORLEVEL 75 GOTO EVENT1 IF ERRORLEVEL 65 GOTO EXPORT IF ERRORLEVEL 55 GOTO GETMAIL IF ERRORLEVEL 45 GOTO NETMAIL IF ERRORLEVEL 35 GOTO HOME IF ERRORLEVEL 31 GOTO IMPORT IF ERRORLEVEL 10 GOTO QUIT IF ERRORLEVEL 8 GOTO ERROR IF ERRORLEVEL 7 GOTO ERROR IF ERRORLEVEL 6 GOTO ERROR IF ERRORLEVEL 5 GOTO ERROR IF ERRORLEVEL 3 GOTO ERROR IF ERRORLEVEL 2 GOTO ERROR IF ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO ERROR REM --------- CALL THE HOME NUMBER AND WAKE ME UP --------- :HOME BNU /Q /M CD \ROBO ROBOCOMM /AHOME /R GOTO START REM --------- IMPORT ANY NEW FIDO MAIL FOR READING --------- :IMPORT CD \PCB\FP FIDOPCB IMPORT FIDOPCB Stat > ..\GEN\BLT16 GOTO RESUME REM --------- EXPORT ANY NEW FIDO MAIL FOR DELIVERY --------- :EXPORT CD \PCB\FP FIDOPCB EXPORT /Strip FIDOPCB Stat > ..\GEN\BLT16 GOTO RESUME REM --------- SEND CALLER TO THE BBS --------- :BOARD BNU /Q /M SET LASTON=CALLER DOBBS REM --------- LOG ON TO THE BBS IN LOCAL MODE --------- :LOCAL BNU /Q /M SET LASTON=LOCAL CD \PCB COPY BOARDL.BAT BOARD.BAT /V BOARD REM --------- BEGIN THE FIRST NIGHTLY EVENT --------- :EVENT1 BNU /Q /M CD \PCB\FP REM --------- EXPORT ANY NEW FIDO MAIL FOR DELIVERY --------- FIDOPCB Export /Strip FIDOPCB Stat > ..\GEN\BLT16 CD \PCB REM --------- RUN PCBOARD'S EVENT --------- REN EVENT.SYS EVENT.BAT EVENT REM --------- BEGIN THE SECOND NIGHTLY EVENT --------- :EVENT2 BNU /Q /M CD\ROBO REM --------- CALL LOCAL BBS AND TRADE FILES/MAIL --------- ROBOCOMM /ASECOND /R CD \PCB\FP REM --------- IMPORT ANY FIDO MAIL NOT IMPORTED --------- FIDOPCB IMPORT FIDOPCB Stat > ..\GEN\BLT16 CD \PCB REM --------- PACK THE FIDO MAIL MESSAGE BASES --------- PCBPACK /Area:16-40 /Fast /KillBak /KillDups /MaxMsgs:500 /NoCaller /UpCase REM --------- CREATE THE BBS CATALOG OF FILES --------- PCBFILER /SORT PCBLOF 0 15 REN PCBLOF.LST DATASHOP.CAT ARJ A -m1 !CATALOG DATASHOP.CAT COPY !CATALOG.ARJ \FREE /V DEL !CATALOG.ARJ DEL DATASHOP.CAT GOTO START REM --------- APPLY THE NEW NODEDIFF TO THE NODELIST --------- :NODEDIFF CLS ECHO ********* PROCESSING NODELIST FILE ********* CD \FD\NODE PKUNPAK -E \FD\FILES\NODEDIFF.* XLAXDIFF /C CD \FD FDNC /F GOTO RESUME REM --------- COMPILE THE NEW NODELIST --------- :NODELIST CLS ECHO ********* PROCESSING NODELIST FILE ********* CD \FD\NODE PKUNZIP -E \FD\FILES\NODELIST.* CD \FD FDNC /F GOTO RESUME :FIDONEWS REM --------- PROCESS THE LATEST FIDO NEWS INTO BLT --------- CLS ECHO ********* PROCESSING FIDO NEWS FILE ********* D: CD \F_ECHO LHA E C:\FD\FILES\FNEWS* COPY *.NWS NEWS DEL *.NWS PAGEKILL NEWS C: CD \FD GOTO RESUME :TICK REM --------- APPLY THE LATEST TIC FILE AND FILES --------- CLS ECHO ********* PROCESSING .TIC FILE ********* TIC2PCB TIC2PCB.CFG GOTO RESUME :GETMAIL REM --------- GET LOCAL BBS MAIL & DL'ED MAIL PKTS --------- CD \CAM-MAIL IF EXIST A:\DATASHOP.REP GOTO REP LOCALCAM PCB:C:\PCB FName:Tom LName:Carroll Pwrd: QWK GOTO END :REP COPY A:\DATASHOP.REP NETS /V DEL A:\DATASHOP.REP LOCALCAM PCB:C:\PCB FName:Tom LName:Carroll Pwrd: REP :END IF EXIST NETS\DATASHOP.QWK COPY NETS\DATASHOP.QWK A: /V IF EXIST NETS\DATASHOP.QWK DEL NETS\DATASHOP.QWK CD\ROBO\MAIL IF EXIST *.QW? COPY *.QW? A: /V IF EXIST *.QW? DEL *.QW? GOTO RESUME :NETMAIL REM --------- GET NETMAIL FROM HOST BBS --------- BNU /Q /M CD \CAM-MAIL\NETS IF EXIST ONESTOP.QW1 DEL ONESTOP.QW1 IF EXIST ONESTOP.QWK REN ONESTOP.QWK ONESTOP.QW1 CD \CAM-MAIL EXPORT ONESTOP CD \ROBO ROBOCOMM /ANETMAIL /R CD \CAM-MAIL\NETS IF EXIST ONESTOP.QWK GOTO NUKEIN GOTO NONUKE :NUKEIN CD \CAM-MAIL IMPORT ONESTOP /DUPS /MAILFLAGS :NONUKE CD \FD GOTO START REM --------- PROCESS FRONT DOOR ERROR --------- :ERROR CLS IF ERRORLEVEL== 8 ECHO ERROR: FRONT DOOR ALREADY LOADED! USE EXIT TO RETURN IF ERRORLEVEL== 7 ECHO ERROR: FOSSIL DRIVER NOT LOADED OR DETECTED! IF ERRORLEVEL== 6 ECHO ERROR: INCORRECT FOSSIL VERSION FOR FRONT DOOR! IF ERRORLEVEL== 5 ECHO ERROR: CANNOT INITIALIZE THE MODEM! IF ERRORLEVEL== 3 ECHO ERROR: LESS THAN 32KB OF DISK SPACE AVAILABLE! IF ERRORLEVEL== 2 ECHO ERROR: EXTERNAL ERROR - MISSING PATH, FILES, ETC. IF ERRORLEVEL== 1 ECHO ERROR: INTERNAL ERROR BNU /C GOTO DONE REM --------- EXIT FRONT DOOR NORMALLY --------- :QUIT ECHO Normal Exit! :DONE BNU /Q /MEXEBBS.BAT @ECHO OFF SET CONTYPE=/ERR IF "%1"=="9600" SET SPED=6 IF "%1"=="2400" SET SPED=3 IF "%1"=="1200" SET SPED=2 IF "%4"=="/NONE" SET CONTYPE= IF "%4"=="" SET CONTYPE= SET EVENT=%3 BOARD %1 %2 BOARDC.BAT @ECHO OFF C: CD \PCB SET PCB=/BYTECRED:1.5 /CONNECT:%1 /MAIN /NOPROMOTE /SWAP /UPCRED:1 IF EXIST REMOTE.BAT RENAME REMOTE.BAT REMOTE.SYS IF EXIST EVENT.BAT RENAME EVENT.BAT EVENT.SYS IF EXIST DOOR.BAT DEL DOOR.BAT IF EXIST ENDPCB DEL ENDPCB PCB145 /C:%SPED% %CONTYPE% /EVENT:%EVENT% IF EXIST REMOTE.BAT REMOTE IF EXIST DOOR.BAT DOOR IF EXIST EVENT.BAT EVENT IF EXIST ENDPCB GOTO END BOARD :END RUNBOARDL.BAT @ECHO OFF C: CD \PCB SET PCB=/MAIN /SWAP SET LASTON=LOCAL IF EXIST REMOTE.BAT REN REMOTE.BAT REMOTE.SYS IF EXIST EVENT.BAT REN EVENT.BAT EVENT.SYS IF EXIST DOOR.BAT DEL DOOR.BAT IF EXIST ENDPCB DEL ENDPCB PCB145 /LOCALON IF EXIST REMOTE.BAT REMOTE IF EXIST DOOR.BAT DOOR IF EXIST EVENT.BAT EVENT IF EXIST ENDPCB GOTO END BOARD :END RUN EVENT.SYS @ECHO OFF C: CD \PCB DEL EVENT.LOG CLS ECHO Conducting Tradewars Maintenance... C: CD \DOORS\TWARS EXTERN -DOOR CLS ECHO Tradewars Maintenance Finished >> C:\pcb\event.log ECHO Extracting Echo Mail... C: CD \CAM-MAIL\NETS IF EXIST DATASHOP.RE1 DEL DATASHOP.RE1 IF EXIST DATASHOP.REP REN DATASHOP.REP DATASHOP.RE1 IF EXIST ONESTOP.QW1 DEL ONESTOP.QW1 IF EXIST ONESTOP.QWK REN ONESTOP.QWK ONESTOP.QW1 IF EXIST ONESTOP.RE1 DEL ONESTOP.RE1 IF EXIST ONESTOP.REP REN ONESTOP.REP ONESTOP.RE1 CD \CAM-MAIL EXPORT ONESTOP CD \PCB CLS ECHO Net-Mail Extracted >> C:\pcb\event.log ECHO Packing Message Bases... PCBPACK /area:0-15 /fast /killbak /killdups /purge /upcase PCBPACK /area:16-39 /fast /killbak /killdups /maxmsgs:1500 /purge /upcase CLS ECHO Message Bases Packed >> C:\pcb\event.log ECHO Packing Users File... PCBSM /pack;remove;days:60;keep:70 CLS ECHO Users File Packed >> C:\pcb\event.log ECHO Sorting Users File... PCBSM /sort;security;prireverse CLS ECHO Users File Sorted >> C:\pcb\event.log ECHO Loading Robocomm (First Agenda)... C: CD \ROBO DEL ROBOCOMM.LOG Robocomm /AFIRST /R /P CLS ECHO Robocomm (First Agenda) completed >> C:\pcb\event.log ECHO Importing Echo Mail... CD \CAM-MAIL IF EXIST NETS\ONESTOP.QWK GOTO IMPORT GOTO SORT :IMPORT IMPORT ONESTOP /DUPS /MAILFLAGS rem CRCSM CLS ECHO Net-Mail Imported >> C:\pcb\event.log CD \PCB PCBPACK /area:40-81 /fast /killbak /killdups /maxmsgs:500 /purge /upcase :SORT PCBFILER /SORT ECHO Directory sort completed >> C:\pcb\event.log CLS ECHO Creating BBS catalog of files... PCBLOF 0 15 REN PCBLOF.LST DATASHOP.CAT ARJ A -m1 !CATALOG DATASHOP.CAT COPY !CATALOG.ARJ C:\FREE /V DEL DATASHOP.CAT DEL !CATALOG.ARJ ECHO BBS catalog of files updated >> C:\PCB\EVENT.LOG ECHO Returning to Front Door C: CD \FD RUN