Sterling Service Telecommunications Host Copyright © 1990 by Thomas F. Brown, B-Ware Computer Systems All Rights Reserved. ******************************************************************** INTRODUCTION: Sterling Service Bulletin Board System for the Amiga. The following features should be noted: > Allows text files to be written as "descriptions" of uploaded files, similar to some of the national computer services. > Zmodem file transfer protocol (including batch download) > Doors (90% compatible with Paragon* doors) > 24 Flags for User and Sysop security access > 6 "clubs", each independent of the others, with 8 sections in each to aid file & message organization > Two levels of Sysop for added security & convenience > Four separate menu sets, allowing the use of different text and color graphic interfaces for the user. > Locked Baud rates > User choice of Line or VT100 Screen Editor for messages. Features new to version 1.2 include a point-and-click graphic interface for the local Sysop, and support for high-speed (eg. MNP) modems. The BBS, of which this is a Demo, is easy to set-up and operate. There is no compiling of menus, or other complicated set-ups. Customization is done via an Intuitionized, point-and-click control-panel! This file now includes a demo of this program, "Demo.Create". Note that both Load and Save functions are disabled in the Create demo! Simply double-click the icon to view the program. In addition, for those converting from BBS-PC**, utilities are supplied to convert your users and download list to Sterling Service format. This Demo isn't intended to be a full Bulletin Board, and should NOT be run unattended (not all files/functions are supported)! It's sole purpose is to give you an idea what the BBS looks like before deciding whether or not to purchase it. * Paragon (c) Inner Circle Software ** BBS-PC (c) Micro-Systems Software INSTALLATION: This text assumes you are using Workbench 1.3, and have placed the board's files and sub-directories on a floppy disk. Once the Demo has been installed, double-click the icon "StartBBS" to run it. Nothing else is needed. Make sure you have turned the modem on before doing so. A standard Hayes-type modem is required. To obtain further help, log-on locally (using "Logon As Sysop" from the "Use the Board" menu), and enter the letter "h" at the Main Menu prompt. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- This document describes some of the Sysop and Supervisor commands available on the board. Because this is a DEMO of the board, the ability of the Sysop to make significant changes is limited. In addition, you may find features in the board not specified in this document. These features should be minor, and easily figured out from their context. If you need additional help, or have specific questions, you can reach the author through the NighTime Bulletin Board at (215) 353-3206. ------------ RESTRICTIONS ------------ The entire contents of this Demo are copyright 1990 B-Ware Computer Systems. It has NOT been released to the public domain. It may, however, be distributed to anyone you wish, as long as all files are included. This Demo is intended for personal use. Sale of this program except for REASONABLE media costs is prohibited. ---------- DISCLAIMER ---------- This is a working demonstration of the Sterling Service BBS program. While every effort possible has been made to ensure that it will function as described, no warranty of any kind, expressed or implied, is made. ----- DOORS ----- Sterling Service doors are 90% compatible with Paragon's doors, as of Paragon version 2.0. Many Paragon doors can be used as-is. SETTING UP DOORS: Sterling uses the logical volume name of "DOORS:" for the location of all door programs and files. You must assign this volume name before using any of the doors. You must place a TEXT FILE into your "BBS:" logical directory called "doors.dat" This file is very similar to Paragon's Doors.DAT file. It must contain the following: First Line............ The total number of doors Second Line........... Name of the first door Third Line............ Access Level (BINARY COLOR LOCK FLAGS) Fourth Line........... Path to & filename of door Fifth Line............ Name of second door (if any) Sixth Line............ Access level of second door Seventh Line.......... Path/filename of second door etc. The access level is the most significant change from Paragon. This is a BINARY DIGIT representation of the User High security flag byte. THIS IS A COLOR LOCK, and controls access to a door. To enter the door, a user must have at least ONE (1) of the matching color keys. If the door has NO access flags set (this value is zero), then everyone can enter. If a door program accesses the user's access level, the number returned will be the COLOR KEY byte, the value of which may be zero. The maximum number of doors supported on Sterling is 6. ------------------- FILE TRANSFER SYSOP ------------------- The File Transfer Sysop menu is where the club sysop releases uploaded files to the general public, and adds, deletes, or edits file headers. The following commands are available: ADD FILE: Allows the club sysop to create a new file header for a file already on disk, allowing the keyboard sysop to add files himself to the board. SCAN ADD: This searches through a directory (chosen from a menu) for any files not currently in the Club Library. The sysop can then elect to add them, entering the file header information for each file as it's selected. EDIT FILE: Allows the club sysop to edit the file header of an existing file. Under this option, if the sysop doesn't create a new file message (if such messages are active), the old message remains intact, and the EDIT is not aborted. DELETE FILE: Allows the club sysop to eliminate a file from the board. BATCH DELETE: Allows the Sysop to delete all Club Library files that are no longer on disk. This is handy when deleting batches of files using a CLI-helper utility. NEW FILE: New files are only available to club sysops. This command scans the file headers for any that haven't been approved yet, and lists them in the manner of Downloads. The sysop can then select and edit those he wishes to approve. LIST DIRECTORY: This command lists the contents of a disk directory (chosen from a menu), showing file dates and protection bits. The question mark lists the available commands. Note that the Sysop is the only one who can can see and download all newly-uploaded files. Until he approves the file (users can see) with the NEW FILE command, he's the only one who can do so. NOTE: All sysop areas are structured different from the rest of the board. Commands can't be changed. Menus are hard-coded into the program and also can't be changed. ------------ SUPERVISOR ------------ This is the most powerful area of the board, thus access should be restricted to a very few people. If the user has SUPERVISOR set in his Sysop Security flags, he must enter a Supervisor password in three tries. (The supervisor and cli password in the demo are both "password") Should he fail, he looses all Sysop and Color Key security access, and a warning is left in the LOG file (if active).On successful entry, the Supervisor is shown a brief summary of system statistics: number of calls, total number of messages written, total number of uploads, and the current number of valid users. Pressing RETURN instead of a valid entry will return to the previous menu level. If done at the top of the Supervisor level, the user will be returned to the Main Menu. Pressing the question-mark will print the available options. The top level of the Supervisor area is a menu covering six areas: * USERFILE MAINTENANCE * SYSTEM MAINTENANCE * CLUB MAINTENANCE * WRITING SYSTEM MESSAGES * READING ELECTRONIC MAIL * SENDING CLI COMMANDS USER MAINTENANCE This area allows the Supervisor total control over the system's Userfile. The following options are available: ADD USER: Allows the Supervisor to add a user manually. DELETE USER: Removes a user from the board. EDIT USER: Allows changes to the following areas of a user's file: * USER NAME * PASSWORD * CITY * STATE * TELEPHONE NUMBER * SECURITY FLAGS (User Low, User High, and Sysop) * DOWNLOAD RATIO * DOWNLOAD ENABLE FLAGS * SCREEN SIZE * MAX MINUTES ALLOWED ON-LINE OK NEW USER: This option searches for all new users that haven't been reviewed yet, and offers the Supervisor a chance to change the User security flags. CHANGE ALL COLOR KEYS: This function changes the color key access of all users. RESET MAX TIME: This command resets all users except user #1, the Supervisor to the same Max Time currently given to new users. VIEW USERS: This allows the Supervisor to view the statistics of selected users. * ALL USERS: Lists using pattern matching on the User Names) * ALL USERS: Lists everyone without pausing) * NO SHOWS: Lists those who have not been on in a number of days. That number of days is entered by the Supervisor before searching. * COLOR KEY: Lists all users with a specific color key. The Supervisor determines which color key is used for the search. * SHOPPERS: Lists all users who have access to the Shopping Mall. ******************************************************************************* * This program is available from: * * * * * * Free Spirit Software, Inc. * * P.O. Box 128, 58 Noble St. * * (215) 683 - 5609 * * * * List Price: $149.95 * * * *******************************************************************************