Shareware Grab Bag/Shareware Grab Bag.iso/096/bbstes.arc/BBSTEST.DOC

Text File | 1988-01-18 | 28KB | 499 lines

                          BBSTEST Version 1.0

                      Jim Kloss - Nochange Software
                          540 Silver Pine Trail
                           Roswell, GA  30076
                             [phone]


Note:  If you intend to use BBSTEST, it is highly recommended that your
       modem support the BUSY, VOICE, and RINGING return codes.  Most 2400
       baud modems do these days and many 1200 baud modems do as well.  If
       your modem doesn't support these, BBSTEST will not do a very good
       job at determining what is going on during call progress.  It will
       record most calls as "VOICE" answers since it can't figure out
       what is going on.


     BBSTEST was designed to help you keep track of local BBS phone numbers.
It has several nice features to help you keep an accurate list with a
minimum of time and trouble.

     BBSTEST was developed as a "lark" by Jim Kloss at Nochange Software.
Although we develop commercial software of exceptional quality, we didn't
write BBSTEST for commercial reasons.  It was written because the OAS
(Organization of Atlanta Sysops) needed a way to keep up with local BBS
phone numbers without having to spend hours of manual time doing it.

     This documentation, and the program itself, are provided "as is".
You can consider this package as "informal".  We're simply trying to
provide a tool to those who need it - but we're not providing all the bells
and whistles associated with our commercial packages.  This documentation
is being written "on the fly" and assumes you are pretty familiar with
your computer, your modem, and BBS's.  If you want better documentation
complete with indexes and all the associated goodies, send us some bucks or
forever hold your peace.

     If there is sufficient interest and financial support for BBSTEST,
we will enhance it and make it a "super program".  If you'd like to see
that happen, a contribution of $35 would help ensure that it happens.
Frankly, we don't expect a large outpouring of support for BBSTEST.  But,
if you decide you like it, let us know so that we can provide enhancements.
Please do not call us on our 800 number to discuss BBSTEST unless you've
made a financial contribution.






WHAT IS BBSTEST AND HOW WILL IT HELP ME?

     If you are responsible for maintaining a list of local BBS phone numbers,
you know what a time consuming task it can be.  User groups frequently
provide phone number lists to their members but these lists are often
out-of-date.  Volunteers find that keeping such a list up-to-date requires
hours of manual dialing to see if a BBS is still running.  If the line is
busy, you have to call back later.  If there is no answer (but you're 99%
sure there's a BBS there) you have to call back later.  In addition, you
have to scribble notes about baud rates accepted, hours open, software type,
registration information, etc.

     BBSTEST was written to alleviate 90% of the manual headaches associated
with keeping such a list.  Note that we said 90% - it will not do 100% of
the work.  But it will do most of the grunt work leaving you time to go
drink beer or throw boomerangs or whatever you're into.  In addition, it
provides a more accurate way of keeping track of BBS numbers than most
manual methods can.  After you've run it, you'll have a sorted list of
BBS numbers on your disk that you can print or allow others to download.
In addition, you'll have some interesting statistics about all the BBS's
in your local area including percentages of availability and baud rates.

     BBSTEST has some features which allow you to be pretty lazy.  For
example, you can use ANY file for input which contains local phone numbers.
You can use your current QModem or Procomm dialing directory.  Or, you
can use the current text version of your local BBS list.  Or, you can
combine as many files from as many different sources as you want.  BBSTEST
will automatically generate a list of phone numbers and statistics which
you can "flesh out" later with BBS names and specific information.  (That
is of course optional but some of you will surely want to put BBS names
next to the numbers in the report.)  BBSTEST
can actually logon to most systems (it's fun to watch it try and figure
out how to logon to a system its never seen before!) and capture the
session to disk for later review.  In addition, you can use BBSTEST to
try and contact busy or no answer numbers for several days without losing
your original "verified" list.  BBSTEST even creates a summary log
of important information about various BBS's according to your parameters.

     If you use BBSTEST, you'll find that you save hours (maybe even days)
over the manual method of verification.  Even if you're not responsible
for keeping a BBS list for a Users group, BBSTEST is a fun and quick way
to "scan" all the local BBS's for those you are interested in.  This may
be the most popular usage of BBSTEST.  Once someone in the local area has
taken the time to build the BBSTEST.SCR file (and we've already given you
99% of it), any novice can use it to log onto hundreds of local BBS's to
get a "look see" and determine which ones are worth calling back manually
later.






HOW TO START

     In order to use BBSTEST, you need two (2) major input files.  The
first is called BBSTEST.INP.  (It stands for INPut.)  It is an "unformatted"
file which contains 7 digit local phone numbers.  By unformatted, we mean
that it does not need to be in any particular format.  You can use your
QMODEM.FON file or your PC-TALK.DIR file.  You can use text or non-text
files as long as the phone numbers are actually text within the file
(almost all communication programs create text phone numbers within
their dialing files).

     BBSTEST will scan the BBSTEST.INP file and extract any phone numbers
it can from within it.  This feature keeps you from having to enter a long
list of numbers.  In effect, you can "steal" dialing directories or text
lists from your Users group and plug them right into BBSTEST.  BBSTEST
does its best to filter out long-distance phone numbers but it is best if
your list has only local numbers.  Although BBSTEST will never dial
long-distance, it may try to make long-distance numbers into local numbers
which isn't what you want.  Most input files will be okay but this is
something to watch out for.

     You may have several files which contain local BBS numbers.  For
example, you may have the file from your IBM PC Users Group and the file
from your Compaq Users Group.  You'd like to combine the lists to insure
that you don't miss any phone numbers.  That's easy - simply use the append
feature of the DOS COPY command to create BBSTEST.INP:

COPY IBMBBS.TXT+COMPAQ.TXT+MACBBS.LST BBSTEST.INP

If you are unfamiliar with the + option of the DOS COPY command, please
refer to your DOS manual.  By the way, BBSTEST is smart enough not to
repeat duplicate phone numbers.  So, you can append 2, 5, or 500 lists
together and BBSTEST will use duplicate phone numbers only once.

     We have not provided a BBSTEST.INP file with the distribution archive
because every city in the US has different BBS phone numbers.  (Actually,
this archive may already have a BBSTEST.INP in it - if so, it is for your
local area or the Atlanta area - check it out with your text editor.)
Therefore, you may need to create your own BBSTEST.INP file.  If you've
got a text file with local BBS numbers, why not just copy that file
into BBSTEST.INP?  If you don't have such a text file, try copying
your communication package phone number file into BBSTEST.INP.  If
all else fails, you can just create your own BBSTEST.INP file with a
text editor and type in a bunch of 7 digit phone numbers.  Remember, the
format is unimportant since BBSTEST will scan any format and just pick
out 7 digit phone numbers (the - symbol is okay if you use 587-3815.)

     The other input file to BBSTEST is called BBSTEST.SCR.  (It stands
for SCReen.)  It tells BBSTEST which communication port to use, what
baud rate to use, and what modem initialization string to use.  Its major
function is to provide a sort of "script" language for BBSTEST.  This
script language tells BBSTEST how to log onto BBS's and which lines you
want it to record in history files.  It also tells the program which lines
indicate that BBSTEST should hang up the phone and proceed to the next
call.  It can also be used to indicate phone numbers or groups of phone
numbers that should never be called using BBSTEST.

     We're not going to go into detail about BBSTEST.SCR in this
documentation.  That's because the best documentation for the file is
contained WITHIN the file itself!  It is always better to include
documentation within a file itself whenever possible so that as you edit
the file, you don't have to refer to this manual.  BBSTEST.SCR is a text
file which you can edit with your favorite text editor.  We suggest that
you simply PRINT the one we have provided, scan it over, and go from there.
The one provided is 99% complete but some BBS's in your area may have their
own custom prompts which you will probably want to include later.
The BBSTEST.SCR which we have provided is certainly adequate to get you
started.  You will probably want to modify it later as you get more
familiar with BBSTEST operations and the BBS's in your local area.  You
*WILL* want to modify the first few parameters in BBSTEST.SCR which set
up the communication port, baud, and modem initialization string unless
they already correspond to your system.  You will also want to customize
BBSTEST.SCR to put your own name, address, etc. in it.  You can look at
each line (most that need customization are marked with CUSTOMIZE) and
change it to agree with the facts in your case.

     To start BBSTEST, all you do is type BBSTEST at the DOS prompt.  The
program will begin to run and is fairly self-explanatory.  If you need
a reminder of what the function keys do, just press the F1 key.  Otherwise,
you should be able to sit back and just watch.  By the way, you'll note
that BBSTEST builds a sorted list of phone numbers (ascending) by default.
If you don't want your list sorted, just use the command line parameter
NOSORT.  Or, if you want it sorted in descending order, just use the
command line parameter SORTD.  For example, BBSTEST NOSORT or BBSTEST SORTD.
You can also use the command line parameters DEBUG and MONITOR.  If you
use DEBUG, MONITOR is automatically assumed.  DEBUG will cause very
detailed information about prompts and responses to be kept in each
!xxxxxxx file.  MONITOR will cause slightly less detailed information to
be kept in the file.  You only use DEBUG and MONITOR when you have a
problem with your prompts/responses that you can't figure out simply by
looking at your BBSTEST.SCR file.





RUNNING BBSTEST

     The first time you run BBSTEST, it will scan the BBSTEST.INP file for
7 digit phone numbers.  It's okay if the numbers appear as either:
xxxxxxx   or   xxx-xxxx.  BBSTEST does a great job of figuring out all the
BBS numbers - if you find a list that it can't handle (it skips some of
the valid numbers) PLEASE get in touch with us so we can revise the program
to handle those situations.

     After the list of phone numbers is created, BBSTEST will sort it into
ascending order.  It will then attempt to dial the numbers starting from
the top of the list.  Each time a number is dialed, BBSTEST writes out
to disk its current status.  This status is written to a file called
BBSTEST.MEM.  (It stands for MEMory.)  This insures that even if power is
lost, you won't lose the status of your current list.  If you'd like to
take a look at BBSTEST.MEM, you'll probably find it fairly easy to
understand since it is a simple text file.

     BBSTEST will continue dialing numbers, recording the status of those
numbers, signing onto BBS's when it finds them, and keeping history logs.
Once the list of numbers has been cycled through, it will go back to the
top and redial any numbers which were busy or had no answer.  You'll
normally let BBSTEST run for several hours while it goes through the list.
But, if you decide you want to stop in the middle of the list, you can
by pressing the F10 key.  You can then come back in a few hours or even
a few days and BBSTEST will start back up right where it left off.  This
keeps you from constantly redialing and reverifying numbers which you
know are good.

     Okay, great.  So what sort of output do you get?  There are several
kinds.  The first is a report - you can see the report by pressing the F8
key.  This will send a report to your screen as well as record it on disk
in a file called BBSTEST.REP.  (It stands for REPort.)  This is simply a
text file which you can print that gives the status of all your phone
numbers.  It has some nice summary statistics on the bottom as well.
Whenever you exit BBSTEST by pressing the F10 key, the BBSTEST.REP file
is updated to show the current status.  Therefore, BBSTEST.REP will
always have the latest information gathered by the program.

     Another sort of output is the BBSTEST.DAT file.  (Uh huh - DATa.)
This file contains summary information about each of the BBS's that was
called.  This file is always appended to by BBSTEST so it just keeps
getting bigger and bigger.  (Yes, you'll want to erase it periodically
especially when you are going to reverify all numbers from scratch.)
The information recorded in BBSTEST.DAT is controlled by your BBSTEST.SCR
file and the |RECORD records.  Again, refer to your BBSTEST.SCR file
itself for more information about the |RECORD statement.

     The purpose of the BBSTEST.DAT file is to give you details (according
to your specifications) about individual BBS's.  This file is generally
printed and used to "flesh out" the BBSTEST.REP report.  Everybody does
it differently - you may want to just combine the two files into one
big file and distribute it.  The choice is yours.

     BBSTEST also keeps individual files containing a complete transcript
of an online session with a BBS.  These files always begin with the !
(exclamation point) and are followed by the 7 digit phone number.  For
example, the file !5873815 would contain the complete session which was
recorded for the BBS at 587-3815.  The reason for the ! at the beginning
of the filename is to allow you to say ERASE !*.* or COPY !*.* and
know that you're getting all the individual log sessions.  A handy command
might be FOR %M IN (!*.*) DO TYPE %M  ...  that would show you each of
the individual log session files.  You'll also want to refer to the
individual log session files when the information in BBSTEST.DAT is
sketchy or incorrect.  Some user groups may even distribute the !*.* files
as examples of what you can expect when you log onto the BBS.

     One final kind of output which BBSTEST can make is called monitoring.
It is created when you turn on the monitoring option using the F4 key.
Output is sent to the !xxxxxxx file for easy reference. It is useful when you
can't figure out why BBSTEST is responding to a BBS in a certain way.
It contains various 'debugging' information about why BBSTEST is doing what
it is doing.  You can also use the command line parameters DEBUG and MONITOR
to automatically enable monitoring when BBSTEST is started.





FUNCTION KEYS

     The F keys will help you control BBSTEST.  They are self-explanatory.
Press the F1 key to get a list of what the various F keys do.  Press the
F2 key to remove the current phone number from the callout list (which
sets the status to CANCEL - the number is not dialed again.)  F3 will
disconnect from the current session.  F4 is used to turn on and off the
monitoring options.  F5 is used to make BBSTEST's output visible or
non-visible.  (For BBS's that don't echo your output or "blank it out"
for security, you'll almost always want this key enabled.)  The F6 key
lets you restart the dialing sequence selecting either busy or no answer
phones.  Once that list has been cycled through, BBSTEST will start at the
top of the list again and cycle through.  The F6 key also lets you "reset"
the list so that ALL numbers are gone through again for verification.
In addition, you can tell BBSTEST what number to resume dialing at (either
as #x of y total numbers or by keying the actual phone number).
The F7 key can be used to disable BBSTEST's ability to type automatic
responses.  If you want to begin talking to the BBS yourself manually,
you can either press any key (which automatically disables autotype) or
press the F7 key.  The F8 key will produce an updated BBSTEST.REP on
both screen and disk.  F9 will allow you to leave BBSTEST and return to
DOS.  Remember that the copy of BBSTEST is still active in memory.  To
get back to it, type EXIT at the DOS prompt.  The F10 key will force
BBSTEST to shutdown and return to DOS.





FEATURES AND MISCELLANEOUS

     BBSTEST has alot of intelligent features.  In general, it expects you
to "trust" it.  In other words, if it is cycling through the list and
all of a sudden begins to skip phone numbers you think it should be
dialing, trust it.  For example, if a number comes up with no answer, it
will try that number only once on the same day (twice the first time you
bring up BBSTEST).  After that, it skips the
number.  (If it has been no answer twice today, why should BBSTEST expect
it to start answering now?)  But, tomorrow, it will try again once.  If
you're attempting to verify lots of numbers, you'll really appreciate this
feature.  The same is true of VOICE numbers.  A number can be assigned
a voice status even though the modem did not return VOICE.  This is normal.
It would happen in the case where a BBS was called, RINGING was seen once
and NO CARRIER came back more than 20 seconds later.  Although no VOICE
was actually heard, there certainly was no BBS so it makes sense to
assign this a voice status.

     Another feature is that if there is no answer in 3 rings, BBSTEST
will assume no answer.  But, the next time it calls, it will let the
phone ring 3 more times until it sees NO CARRIER.  In some cases, it will
let the phone ring until the time in the modems S7 register has elapsed.
(For example, if the previous call gave a BUSY, then it will let the
phone ring until S7 has elapsed because it is likely that there really is
a BBS here.)  Only BUSY numbers will be cycled through endlessly after the
first two passes of BBSTEST.  (Makes sense doesn't it?)

     Occasionally, you'll see BBSTEST appear to get "stuck" on a BBS
when it doesn't know how to answer.  You're probably sitting there
watching going "argggg - it's gonna do this all night long!"  Don't
worry.  BBSTEST is normally smart enough to figure out that he doesn't
know what's going on and simply disconnect.  In the event he can't
figure that out, he'll stay connected a maximum of 8 minutes (5 minutes
for 1200 baud and higher) and then simply hang-up.  The worst that can
happen is that BBSTEST gets in an endless loop with a BBS for 5-8 minutes
before hanging up.

     In some cases, BBSTEST will absolutely amaze you.  It appears to
use artificial intelligence.  For example, if a BBS comes up with:

Hey there Bozo ... your name is what I'd like to know but
then again, if you can't tell me what it is, I'll cut you off...
--->

you'd probably think "no way" could BBSTEST understand what is being
said.  But, surprisingly, BBSTEST will respond with your name!  It's fun
to watch - even when BBSTEST gets messed up and responds with the wrong
thing.

     Just for your information, BBSTEST decides how to respond as follows.
It looks at the last input line and scans BBSTEST.SCR for the most likely
responses to that line.  It then backs up one line on the screen and
figures the most likely responses for that line.  It continues to do this,
backing up for a total of 24 lines.  Once it has built the "list" of most
likely responses, it sends them one by one until the prompt changes.  In
some cases (like with the ENTER key, NS (non-stop), or "C"ontinue) it
will repeat that same response over and over.  You generally do not have
to be concerned with how BBSTEST figures what it is going to do.  But,
if you are interested, using the DEBUG option will show you in detail
the thought process BBSTEST went through to get its response list.


     Whenever BBSTEST detects a prompt that it knows it can't deal with,
it records it at the bottom of the BBSTEST.SCR file.  It sticks an * in
front (so it is a comment) and records the phone number.  This allows you
to edit the BBSTEST.SCR file, go to the bottom, see some obvious prompts
that you know how to allow for, uncomment them and add the appropriate
response.  This feature makes it much easier for you to enhance your
BBSTEST.SCR script file without having to sit and watch all the sessions.

     The rate of speed which BBSTEST types at is determined by the baud
rate it connected at.  The lower the baud rate the slower BBSTEST types.
Whenever the cursor is flashing fast, BBSTEST is considering responding
to the BBS.  When the cursor is off, BBSTEST realizes that the BBS is
sending information an no response is required.  When the cursor is
blinking slowly, BBSTEST is in the process of sending a response.  You
will normally see this response in red on your screen before the BBS
echoes it.  The ENTER key is indicated by a red arrow.

     If you decide to add more phone numbers to your current list, you
can simply create a new BBSTEST.INP file.  The program always looks to
see if BBSTEST.INP has changed (date/time stamp) since the last time it
was read.  If it has not, it continues on with the old list.  If the file
has changed, it will read it in and combine any new numbers with its
current list.  This allows you to keep an ongoing list and simply add new
numbers by creating a new BBSTEST.INP file.  Remember, even if some of
the numbers are duplicated, BBSTEST will filter them out and add only the
new numbers.

     If for some reason your list becomes "messed up" simply ERASE the
file BBSTEST.MEM.  That will force a whole new list to be built.  This
is like "starting over".

     If you're sitting there watching numbers be dialed and you want to
cycle past a number, you can simply press a key after the number
is dialed.  This will force the modem to return NO CARRIER and you will
move on to the next number.  If you press the space bar, the same number
that was just dialed will be dialed again.  This is handy if you get an
incoming call (you may be using your BBS line to make outgoing calls with
BBSTEST) and you know there was no dial tone.  Just press the space bar
repeatedly until you hear dial tone and the number is actually dialed.


     Whenever BBSTEST is able to get connected but gets no response from
the BBS, it will give it a special status.  The next time it calls, it
will force itself to 300 baud.  Sometimes 300 baud BBS's are hard to get
connected to and this is why BBSTEST does this.  Also, any number which is
given voice status will be redialed at 300 baud.  Again, all of this is
normal and should be considered a feature of BBSTEST as it tries to get
connected with trouble BBS's.

     If the message "NO DIAL TONE" comes up, BBSTEST will continue trying to
dial the number it is on until the NO DIAL TONE goes away.

     The "Call=xxxx" on the status line indicates the number of outgoing
calls that have been attempted this session.  The number is NOT carried
forward from session to session.  The status line also indicates the current
time and the elapsed time that this session has been active.

     BBSTEST will record new "possible" BBS phone numbers that it finds in
BBSTEST.DAT.  It does a fairly good job of this although many of the
numbers it records will be voice numbers.  To verify, simply go to the
!xxxxxxx file and see what the entire context was.  Amazingly enough,
BBSTEST located over 15 new phone numbers in the Atlanta area simply by
scanning what other BBS's were telling it.  By the way, a number which
is already in the BBSTEST list or doesn't make sense (begins with a 0
or 1 or 999) will not be considered a new number and is therefore ignored.
Whenever I find a new BBS number, I just use my text editor (I'm still
using clunky old WordStar since it doesn't truncate long lines) and add
it to the bottom of BBSTEST.INP.





SUGGESTED USE

     I use BBSTEST once every few weeks to verify all the local numbers.
If you've got a PC at work, it is easy to let BBSTEST run all weekend or
all night.  When you come in, you'll be able to see what has happened on
the status line.  Just press F10 to save everything and PRINT BBSTEST.REP.
You can run BBSTEST again in a few days to try and pick up the numbers
that were busy or no answer.  Each time your Users group comes out with a
new text list of phone numbers, simply copy it into BBSTEST.INP.  If any
new numbers are listed, they will be added automatically to BBSTEST's
dialing list.  This allows you to keep a perpetual report of BBS activity
in your local area.  If you want to start the list over again sometime
just ERASE BBSTEST.MEM.  The ongoing statistics are sometimes nice since
you can see, for example, that out of 35 calls, 32 were BUSY, and 3 times
you verified.  This would show that the particular BBS is very busy.  In
addition, if the BBS goes down for a few weeks, the DATE/TIME LAST VERIFIED
column will show the last date/time you were able to get logged on.

     If you run BBSTEST over a week it should give you an excellent idea of
which BBS's are really no answer because they are down permanently.  Of
course, each time you run BBSTEST you increase your chances of finding
BBS's which were just down temporarily.  It is probably a good idea to give
BBS's a full month of no answer before removing them from your lists.  BBS's
that you think are down permanently but keep showing up on your BBSTEST.INP
lists can be filtered out by using the BBSTEST.SCR file (see its doco).
In addition, BBS's which NEVER connect correctly can be filtered out in the
same manner.

     If you're just trying to produce a quick list of BBS numbers for
friends, you can simply distribute BBSTEST.REP directly to them.  They could
in turn use that file as a BBSTEST.INP file and using BBSTEST log onto all
the boards in the area to get a quick feel for what they are like.





FINALE

     BBSTEST has a sense of humor (just like the author who occasionally
does standup comedy at a local nightclub!)  Oftentimes it complains about
the workload and says other cute things.  In addition, it can't quite
figure out what it's worth - you'll notice the contribution amount change
each time you run it.  Take it all in stride - we just believe that life
without a few laughs is boring indeed.

     That's about it for the documentation.  As you can tell, it was
written in a "shoot from the hip" fashion.  You may have other questions
about BBSTEST which aren't answered here.  You can call us at [phone]
if you like, but keep in mind that is a business number.  At this point,
BBSTEST is a non-profit venture so we simply can't afford to devote a great
deal of time to supporting it.  If you think BBSTEST is neat and you want
to see a commercial version, fully documented and with complete support,
then let us know - particularly with your financial contributions.  By
the way, we have always applied 100% of contributions to commercial purchase
price and we frequently let early contributors beta test and upgrade them
for free.  Have fun with BBSTEST and let us know what you think!