Chapter 7 The service command =================================== 7.1 The purpose with a service command ------------------------------------------ The service command is called SERVICE and only the SysOp should have access to it. You use it when something has gone wrong in your BBS, when something needs to be fixed immediately (we'll explain more about this below) or when you want to check that all the datafiles in your system are intact and fully functioning. If something goes wrong at Server-startup you can of course not get to the SERVICE command. In that case you should use o backup of your syste files. The SERVICE command is NOT a replacement for regular backups of your system, it's just a handy complement. 7.2 Description over all the functions ------------------------------------------ The Service command has a lot of functions. We will divide them into groups and explain every function step by step. * File(Area) service MEND CORRUPTED FILEAREAS This is used when Area.DAT in some way has been corrupted. NT will then scan the Area.DAT for errors and if it finds any NT will try to repair it. REMOVE OLD FILES This is used to remove files older than a selected date. You can opt to choose to do this manually or automatically. You can also set the minimum filesize for the operation. In that way you can easily find and delete the large files that no-one ever downloads anyway. You can also set the minimum amount of downloads. Then you can keep all the popular files and delete those not so popular. MEND CORRUPTED FILES Is used when a file has got an corrupt name, perhaps because of a user-hangup in a critical situation, so that the file has become corrupted. NT will scan through all the posts in File.DAT and check all the values for errors. If NT finds a file that's suspect you will be told and have the option of keeping it or deleting it. SCAN FOR UNCREATED FILES ON DISK This is used when you've copied a bunch files to a fileareas directory. NT will then scan through the whole directory and tell you if it finds any file in there which does not exist in your filedata (File.DAT). For these files you may select to "create" it, delete it, or jst leave it alone. COMPARE FILEDATA WITH DISK The program will scan the filedata and check so that all the files in the filedata really exists on the disk. If a file is missing you will have the options of deleting it from the filedata or just ignore it. SEARCH FOR UNCREATED FILES (FAST) This works in the same way as SEARCH FOR UNCREATED FILES. The difference is that you will set ONE default description for all the files that will be found, and you will not have the choice of deleting it, creating or etc, as the file will be created automatically. CHECK THE NUMBER OF FILES IN A FILEAREA If the number of files in a filearea, because of some reason, does not match those values in Area.DAT, this is the SERVICE-choice for you! NT will tell you about the problems and then it will correct them. EXCHANGE PLACE OF TWO FILEAREAS. The order that the areas are listed in depends of the order that they were created. With this function you can get around this and change the places of two areas as you wish. UPDATE FILEDATA This command scans all files and makes sure that those files with a long description actually has got a long-decription-file in the DESC/ directory, and that no long descriptions exists for files that are deleted. Normally this is handled automatically, but in case of error this command might be useful. Also the filelengths are checked, so that the lengths defined in File.DAT corresponds to those on the disk. * Meeting Service REPAIR DAMAGED TEXTPOINTERS If a meeting has been damaged in the way that some texts are incorrectly linked or that NT can't even read the TEXTx or HEADx file, this function may help you. A problem could for example be that in HEADx it says that a text is xxx bytes long, while it actually has a different size. The safest way to handle such a problem is to use a backup, if you've got one new enough, and then control and correct again. Remember that if you exchange the TEXTx file you must also exchange the HEADx file. REPAIR CORRUPTED MEETINGS This function is used when Meet.DAT because of some reason has become corrupt. You will be informed about the problem and NT will try to correct it. DELETING OLD TEXTS You must use this command to physically delete old texts from the disk. The DELETE TEXT command is only used to mark the text as deleted, so that you can not read it. Here you will be prompted for the number of texts that should be left in the meeting. The values in paranthesis is the default ones that you've set when creating the meeting. Beware so that you don't make a mistake because of incorrect default settings. EMPTY MAILBOX This function should only be used in case something has gone seriously wrong with the mailbox. The Mailbox is the only meeting that you can't delete in your BBS, so if something goes wrong with it this is the best way to fix it. All users textpointers in the mailbox will be set to zero and all texts will be deleted. * User service DELETE INACTIVE USERS This function will systematically scan the users and you will have the option to manually or automatically delete the users of your choice. Before the scanning-process begins you must choose how many days of inactivity are required for a user to be deleted. You will also choose the maximum status of the users to appaer. CHANGE STATUS ON A GROUP OF USERS With this function you can change the status on all users of a certain level. If, for example, all new users get status 1, you can with this function automatically raise their status to a certain level (your choice). This function is also suitable for eg. listing all users with a certain status. Just set the new status to the status they've already got! * Miscallenous REREAD COMMAND.DAT AND NT.CFG This function tells the Server to re-read Command.DAT and NT.CFG. The nodes that have been started with another konfiguration than NT.CFG will not be affected by the new configuration. All nodes will be affected by the new Command.DAT of course. CREATE STATISTICS You can get an overview of who are the most active users on your BBS by selecting this function. You can choose if you want the statistics on screen or output to a printer. If you select printer it will be the one selected in NT.CFG, which may in fact be an ordinary file, if you've not got a printer. REPORT OF YOUR BBS This alternative is useful when you want to go through all the meetings, fileareas, or other values in your BBS. You may choose yourself what kind of information you want o report of.