Simtel MSDOS 1992 December/simtel1292_SIMTEL_1292_Walnut_Creek.iso/msdos/rbbs_pc/chtdr403.arc/CHATDOOR.DOC

Text File | 1988-10-16 | 8KB | 167 lines

                                The  Chat  DOOR


                               Version 4.03


                    An inter-node chat utility for RBBS-PC.


                              Written by Don Rowe
                         SYSOP of: Threshold Of Origin
                         [phone] & [phone]
                                 300-2400 Baud

                      24 hours a day, 7 days a week

     The Chat DOOR  is a different  type of software  that lets you chat to an-
other person on a RBBS with a multi-user environment.  Since the authors didn't
include a chat feature within RBBS itself, I was forced to find a way to let my
users talk to each other while online.  The result was The Chat DOOR.
     This program  works much like RBBS's SYSOP chat.   The major difference is
that a user doesn't see every  character come across as  the other is typing it
in, but instead sees the complete line.   A message is not sent to another user
until either 'RETURN' is pressed,  or the current line reaches 75 characters in
length.   It does include word-wrapping for easier reading, and a prompt before
each message is displayed stating which node it came from.
     Upon registering your copy of The Chat DOOR, you will receive a coded file
that contains information on who your copy is registered to.  Without this file
in the same directory as CHATDOOR.EXE you will have a demo copy, which will not
operate in remote mode.  Only the local SYSOP can use a demo version.
     The Chat DOOR needs a file for every node it has.  The files must be named
CHAT1.DEF, CHAT2.DEF, etc.  Within these files are the parameters needed for it
to work correctly.   They must be separated by a comma, and all be on one line.
Here is what the parameters are:

    MAX IDLE,MAX TIME,COM PORT,MESSAGES NAME,DORINFO NAME,DRIVE,TOTAL NODES

      MAXIMUM IDLE: is the amount of time a user has to  input something before
         he/she is logged off.  This value is calculated in seconds,  so if you
         have 300 as the value for MAXIMUM IDLE then the user must respond in 5
         minutes or he/she will be logged off due to lack of activity.

      MAXIMUM TIME: is the amount of time a user has to spend on  The Chat DOOR
         during one session.  This value is calculated in minutes.

      COM PORT: has a value between  0 and 2.   This limitation is due to BASIC
         and its limitation of only supporting two communication ports.  If you
         wish to setup a local only node for The Chat DOOR, you may choose 0 as
         your COM port.

      MESSAGES FILE NAME: is the file name used by RBBS  for writing all of the
         users' messages,  but also for their  current statistics.   This para-
         meter is the  same as you have  labeled it within CONFIG.   If you are
         using The Chat DOOR in a different subdirectory than where MESSAGES is
         located, then you must specify a path, other wise a path is not needed
         in this parameter.

      DORINFO NAME: is the file name where RBBS writes users' DOOR information.
         This should be the same directory where your messages file is located.
         You must specify the full path and file name of your DORINFOx.DEF file
         which should be in the same directory as your messages file.  The x is
         the value of that node.  Allowed parameters are 1-0 and A-Z.   You may
         need to check your RBBS-PC.DOC for more information on DORINFOx.DEF.

      DRIVE: is the name of the  drive and path  where you would like  The Chat
         DOOR to read/write the transferring messages.  There will be two files
         that it will write in this location.   The first is CHATSTAT.DAT which
         is where the users' status is  recorded:  who is on,  who was the last
         user, etc.  The second file is CHATTRNS.DAT which is the file used for
         the transferring of the users' messages to each other.   It is best to
         use these files in a RAM disk if possible,  but is not manditory.   It
         will just run a little slower.

     TOTAL NODES: is the total number of nodes that you will have.  This number
         can not exceed 36 nor should it be lower than 1.



The Chat DOOR ver. 4.03  October 16, 1988                                Page 2

     Version 4.03 fixes several bugs.   This version will now fully support all
36 nodes that  are allowed by RBBS-PC.   The view other  users had a bug  which
displayed the wrong user's status.  It also truly monitors for loss of carrier.
     New with version 4 is the  private conferencing  feature.   The /J command
initates the conference  procedure.   The user will be  shown the status of all
users in The Chat DOOR using the /C - Check who is on The Chat DOOR subroutine.
This has been modified to show conference status as well as who is active.   An
asterisk before a users name represents that  that user is currently in private
conferencing with another user.   Any messages from a conferencing user can not
be read by anyone except for the other conferencer, all non-conferencing users'
messages will be sent to everyone,  conferencing or not.   There can be as many
conferences as nodes will allow,  but there can only be two users within a con-
ference.  To exit a conference, a user must use the /J command again.  Pressing
the ENTER key when asked for a node to conference with, will exit them from any
conference that they might have been in and take them back to the chat mode.
     To run The Chat DOOR in local mode, you need not log on to RBBS first.  In
older version of The Chat DOOR this was necessary, but it no longer is.  If you
run The Chat DOOR without logging onto RBBS first, The Chat DOOR checks for any
activity on RBBS  for the node you specify on the command line.   If you try to
run The Chat DOOR, specifing a node that is already in use by another user, you
will get strange results!  If no activity is found it will "assume" you are the
SYSOP and open the DOOR accordingly.
     The batch file to  invoke The Chat DOOR  must specify the node number that
the current user is on.   This is done in several different ways.  You can have
a separate batch file for every node you have,  or you can use the '%1' feature
of DOS to implement that number automatically.   A sample batch file could look
like this:

     ECHO OFF  (saves a great deal of time!)
     CHATDOOR %1  (the %1 will be replaced by the number in the command line.)

That is all that is needed.  However, if you are using a RAM disk, you may want
to add a couple of lines that check for this.  Before calling CHATDOOR, add:

     IF NOT EXIST d:CHAT*.DAT COPY CHAT*.DAT d:  (d: is the RAM disk letter.)

and add after calling CHATDOOR:

     COPY d:CHAT*.DAT  (again d: is the RAM disk letter)

These 2 lines will restore your .DAT files in case you lose the contents of the
RAM disk.
     That is all there is to the installation  of The Chat DOOR.   I have tried
to make it as simple as  possible to get you started.   The Chat DOOR will work
much better if used with the RBBS-PC CPC16.1A-PAGE/VIEW.   I have modified RBBS
to allow users to page other users, and also to 'view' what the other users are
doing.  With the V)iew command a user can tell that another user is downloading
a file, or has exited though a DOOR, etc.   It is a nice addition and decreases
confusion concerning The Chat DOOR.  You can find this modification on my RBBS.

     If you would like to have a working copy of The Chat DOOR, please send the
name of your BBS, BBS phone number, your name, address, phone number and $30 to

                            Don Rowe
                            1119 S. 6th Ave.
                            Yakima, WA 98902

This will  help in paying for the  operation of  Threshold of Origin and future
modifications of The Chat DOOR.  Thank you.



The Chat DOOR ver 4.03  October 16, 1988                                 Page 3