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▄█████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████▄ ███ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄ ███ ███ ███████████████ ▄██████████▄ ███████ ███████ ███████ ███████ ███ ███ ▀▀▀▀▀█████▀▀▀▀▀ █████▀▀▀▀█████ ████████ ████████ ████████ ████████ ███ ███ █████ █████ █████ █████████ █████████ █████████ █████████ ███ ███ █████ █████ █████ ███████████████████ ███████████████████ ███ ███ █████ █████▄▄▄▄█████ █████ ███████ █████ █████ ███████ █████ ███ ███ █████ ▀██████████▀ █████ █████ █████ █████ █████ █████ ███ ███ ▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀ ███ ███ ▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ███ ███ ▄██████████▄ █████ █████ ███████ ███████████████ ███ ███ █████▀▀▀▀█████ █████ █████ █████████ ▀▀▀▀▀█████▀▀▀▀▀ ███ ███ █████ █████████████ █████ █████ █████ ███ ███ █████ █████████████ █████ █████ █████ ███ ███ █████▄▄▄▄█████ █████ █████ ███████████████ █████ ███ ███ ▀██████████▀ █████ █████ █████▀▀▀▀▀▀▀█████ █████ ███ ███ ▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀ ███ ▀██████ TommCHAT 1.3 by Gerald Albion ( C) 1993-1997 Whirlwind Software ██████▀ Manual for SysOps and c0-SysOps Program and documentation by Gerald T. "Tommy" Albion (C) Copyright 1993-1997 Whirlwind Software All Rights Reserved Thanks to Scott Johnstone for the /spine action =) ┌──────┐ ┌┬─┴──────┴─┬┐ ┤│ CONTENTS │├ └┴─┬──────┬─┴┘ └──────┘ [1] Introduction - What IS TommCHAT??? And What Is Needed to Run It? [2] Command Line Switches [3] General Configuration for All BBS Types The IPC disk TOMMCHAT.CFG Custom strings and TCL.EXE Actions and COMPACT.EXE Embedded Command Reference [4] User and VIP Functions in detail Public Chat Private Messages Changing Channels Generic Actions Smart Actions Squelching System Messages Tele-Trial Miscellaneous Functions [5] SysOp and Co-SysOp ("c0") Functions [6] Licence Notice and ShareWare Registration ┌───┐ └─┐ │ Introduction: │ │ What IS TommCHAT??? │ │ And What Is Needed To Run It? ┌─┘ └─┐ └─────┘ TommCHAT is a BBS Door - an external program which your BBS calls - which allows you to add professional multi-user chat to virtually any BBS! TommCHAT is full featured, with remote co-sysop functions, generic and intelligent actions, public and private chat, 255 access-restrictable channels, and much more! TommCHAT is extremely memory efficient and should run without memory problems even in cramped task sizes. TommCHAT is extremely generic - it can run on multitasking DOS systems under DesqView or multi-computer LAN type BBSes. It needs no special hardware and no special device drivers except for a FOSSIL driver (which you're likely using already) and a RAM Disk (which many sysops are also already using). Since it uses standard com ports, interfacing it to multi-port serial boards is easy as long as you have a FOSSIL for such boards. More importantly than all this technical stuff, TommCHAT turns an ordinary multi-line BBS into a busy electronic social center! Dedicated chat systems are universally popular and most BBSes with good multi-user chat as an added feature benefit from the popularity of this form of communication. TommCHAT lets you give users this service without having to switch to different BBS software (giving up your existing BBS's appearance and functionality in the process!) To Run TommCHAT you will need: - A BBS capable of writing one of the supported Door Info drop files (DORINFO1.DEF, DOOR.SYS, PCBOARD.SYS or CALLINFO.BBS) - A FOSSIL driver or compatible Int 14 driver for your serial board (FOSSILs are available for most multi-serial boards) *** NOTE: As of version 1.06, the FOSSIL is OPTIONAL! *** - A hard disk with at least several hundred K free - A multi-tasking or LAN BBS system capable of handling more than one caller at once - MS-DOS 3.3 or higher (You might get it to work under OS/2 but I've never tested for this) - Enough memory (EMS, XMA, etc) for a respectable-sized RAM Disk (at least 512k RAM Disk recommended) You do NOT require: - A special comm card (TommCHAT uses generic FOSSIL calls) - A special multitasker (TommCHAT uses generic IPC files) - Any EMS or XMS, but it would help a LOT! - A special device driver or TSR (not even a FOSSIL!) ┌─────┐ └───┐ │ Command ┌───┘ │ Line │ ┌───┘ Options │ └───┐ └─────┘ /? - Help. It will display the following help screen: /? - This Help Screen /L<baud>- Use Locked Baud Rate (baudrate optional) /Axxx - Assume access level xxx (can be 0..65535) /Nxxx - Use node number xxx (can be 1..255) /Txxx - Override time limit with xxx minutes /NA - Automatically assign node number /I - Use CALLINFO.BBS instead of DORINFOx.DEF /B - Use DOOR.SYS instead of DORINFOx.DEF /C - Use PCBOARD.SYS instead of DORINFOx.DEF /F - Force use of DORINFO1.DEF regardless of /N setting /X - Disable use of FOSSIL even if present /Dpath - Specify path where door drop file is located /L - Use Locked Baud Rate. If you're using a locked com port (usually with modems faster than 2400 baud this is the case) then use this switch. Note that with a FOSSIL you don't need to specify a baud rate; if your FOSSIL is locked, TommCHAT doesn't -need- a baud rate. What this switch does in this case is forbid TommCHAT from messing with the baud rate in any way, since the FOSSIL has already locked it for you. However if you're using the internal driver, you do need to specify a baud rate either here or in the config file (take your pick). Examples: TOMMCHAT /L TOMMCHAT /L115200 /Axxx - Use Access Level xxx, where xxx is a number from 0 to 65535. This is usually used in local logons by the sysop when you need to test actions and other functions, but it can also be used to assign an access level to callers when there is no other way of passing an access level from the BBS to TommCHAT. Examples: TOMMCHAT /A200 TOMMCHAT /A10 TOMMCHAT /A65535 /Nxxx - Use node number xxx, where xxx is a number from 1 to 255. This is also normally used locally, but some door info file formats don't support node numbers and therefore you need to pass a node number via the command line instead with this command. Examples: TOMMCHAT /N1 TOMMCHAT /N25 TOMMCHAT /N69 *** *** WARNING: If more than one copy of TommCHAT is *** running with the same node number, not only will *** one of the nodes be invisible to everyone, but *** at least one will promptly crash with one of a *** series of Runtime Errors! ALWAYS make sure every *** node has a unique node number!!! If this isn't *** possible with your BBS software, use the /NA *** command line switch!!! *** ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Note: TommCHAT normally assumes the use of the │ │ DORINFOx.DEF door info file, where x is the node │ │ number, e.g.: │ │ │ │ DORINFO2.DEF │ │ DORINFO7.DEF │ │ DORINF23.DEF │ │ DORIN109.DEF │ │ │ │ Note how the node number "eats" backward into the │ │ DORINFO part of the filename. This number is the │ │ node number passed bu the /N command line parameter.│ │ │ │ If your BBS cannot generate this style of DORINFO │ │ filename, you will have to either use the /NA │ │ switch to automatically assign a node number and │ │ then use DORINFO1.DEF (which can be forced with the │ │ /F switch) -or- try using one of the other door │ │ info formats, as described below. │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ /NA - Automatically assign a node number. If passing a node number from your BBS to TommCHAT is impossible, you can use this command to automatically select the lowest node number that is not currently in use. This will give each caller online a unique node number, but the number will not necessarily indicate which actual BBS node the user is on. Example: TOMMCHAT /NA /I - This instructs TommCHAT to use CALLINFO.BBS as a door drop file instead of DORINFOx.DEF Example: TOMMCHAT /I /B - This instructs TommCHAT to use DOOR.SYS as a door drop file. Example: TOMMCHAT /B /C - This instructs TommCHAT to use PCBOARD.SYS as a door drop file. Example: TOMMCHAT /C /F - This forces TommCHAT to use DORINFO1.DEF regardless of the actual node number passed. Example: TOMMCHAT /F /D - This specifies a path where the door drop file (DORINFOx.DEF, CALLINFO.BBS, DOOR.SYS or PCBOARD.SYS) is located. This is included for the benefit of BBSes which are unable to specify where to write the drop file for each door (Remote Access seems to have this limitation). This switch is optional if your BBS can write the door drop file to a path where TommCHAT will look for it. TommCHAT first looks in the directory from which it runs, then the currently logged directory, then in several possible paths commonly used by several popular BBS packages (e.g. \RA, \MAX, \WC, \PCB, etc.). It also tries the root of the currently logged drive. Examples: TOMMCHAT /Dc:\bbs\node1\ TOMMCHAT /Dc:\ra\ TOMMCHAT /Dd:\doors\tommchat\ A combination using DOOR.SYS: TOMMCHAT /Dc:\wc\ /B /X - This switch is the same as the NOFOSSIL statement in TOMMCHAT.CFG. It instructs TommCHAT to ignore the FOSSIL if present and proceed using its own internal serial driver. This is just an override; normally, if there is no FOSSIL present the internal driver is used anyway. ┌──────┐ └────┐ │ General Configuration ┌──┘ │ for └──┐ │ All BBS Types ┌────┘ │ └──────┘ The IPC Disk: IPCs are "Inter Process Communications", which are files shared between nodes in a multi-user chat system. IPCs are the key to TommCHAT's operation. TommCHAT uses IPC files instead of shared memory schemes (which require special device drivers and are NOT always reliable) in order to make TommCHAT runnable on nearly any system. However, since communications are handled by passing files, DOS can impose quite a burden unless you take steps to speed the files up as much as possible. The best way to do this is to use a RAM Disk. This has the added advantage of not imposing a lot of wear on your hard disk. A TommCHAT system with several users online can easily create, write, read and then delete dozens of files per second. The wear this would cause an uncached hard disk is extreme. Therefore a RAM disk is essential. The largest possible RAM Disk you can manage should bs used, and your RAMDRIVE.SYS line in CONFIG.SYS should stipulate a large number of files, perhaps 512 or 1024. If you're using a LAN and some of your BBS nodes are on a different machine from the RAM disk, make sure your RAM disk is set up as a network drive so that it is accessible. It is worth mentioning, as an advanced feature, that you can actually run more than one implementation of TommCHAT independently on the same machine by giving each instance a different IPC path. An example of the usefulness of this is in an adult BBS with family levels. You could make two copies of TommCHAT available to each node - each in different home directories and each with an IPC path distinct from the other. One would be a general G-Rated chatter system with the full 255 channels available for that purpose, and the other could be an adult chatter with risque' actions etc. (and where the users' /handles are presumably different to protect the guilty), and also with 255 independent channels available. TOMMCHAT.CFG: A line-by-line explanation of all the options in the main configuration file. ipc r:\ipc\ The IPC Path is a path to the drive and directory where "Inter Process Communications" files are kept. IPC files are the key to TommCHAT's operation. Make sure this is set to a RAM disk! See "The IPC Disk" in this chapter for a full explanation of this critical part of TommCHAT. prompt off prompt on prompt time There are three options to this. ON will display a colourful prompt to remind the user that s/he can type here. OFF will more faithfully emulate older chat systems and leave the user's cursor at the leftmost position with no prompt at all. TIME gives the user a unique prompt which displays the current time. Your system may not run well with TIME prompts on; if this is the case try using ON or OFF instead. timeout 10 The timeout is the amount of time, in minutes, that the user can leave his/her keyboard idle before TommCHAT will cut him/her off. dvslice no If you find that the rest of the system really slows down when you run TommCHAT, try setting DVSlice to YES. If YES TommCHAT will give up lots of DesqView timeslices (if DV is being used to multitask). winslice no The WinSlice option is the same as DVSlice - except that it indicates whether you want to give up Windows timeslices. Both WinSlice and DVSlice will only work if the appropriate multitasker has been detected by TommCHAT. msginterval 5 This is the interval, in minutes, between automatic postings of the /M messages. speed 5 This is the interval between checks of the stack files. Generally speaking, this is the "heartbeat" of the program. The interval is in 100'ths of a second, so a speed of 100 would mean that the stacks are checked once every second. A speed of 50 is twice a second and so forth. If TommCHAT places a big drag on your system's overall speed with a low "speed" setting, try slowing it by increasing it. I have found 5 works fine on my BBS. That's twenty times a second. And yes, I know that "speed" is a misnomer: this is really a "rate". access normal 40 access vip 98 access moderator 200 access c0 400 access sysop 1000 These are the definitions of the access levels used by TommCHAT. The BBS may pass any access level from 0 to 65535, and TommCHAT determines from this which of its own six access levels to use. TommCHAT fundamentally has only six access levels, they are "M0e", "Normal", "VIP", "Moderator", "C0", and "Sys0p". A m0e (pronounced "mo") is an unvalidated or undesirable user (take your pick), and any access level lower than normal constitutes a m0e. Normal users are the bulk of your userbase. VIP users get extra time and more features. Moderators (minor co-sysops) can throw users off and do other things to them, at their discretion. Unlike moderators, C0's are real co-sysops. They can do everything a moderator can do, and more. SysOps have no time limit, cannot be squelched or otherwise affected by other users or c0's, and can perform ALL TommCHAT functions. See the chapter on c0 functions for a full discussion of the privileges of these access levels. teletrial 3 This is the number of "votes" required to eject a user in a TeleTrial. It is recommended that this be set to somewhere between 2 and one less than your maximum number of nodes. If you set it equal or greater than the maximum number of people who can be on, then teletrials will never succeed unless the user in question votes himself off (that's real likely - NOT). If it's set to 1 then anyone can throw any m0e, normal or VIP user off at any time - you might as well give them all moderator privs in that case! brackets m0e ~E: ~E: brackets normal ~G( ~G) brackets vip ~O{ ~O} brackets moderator ~L< ~L> brackets c0 ~P[ ~P] brackets sysop ~J█~b ~7~J█ As in other chat systems, TommChat allows you to quickly indicate a user's "rank" by the brackets around the node number in the /s and other displays. The brackets command defines these brackets, their shape and colour. channel 69 50 Access restrictions - any channels not defined here will be assumed open to everyone! Syntax: Channel {channelnumber} {accessrequired} In the example above, channel 69 is oppen to users with access 50 or higher. time m0e 5 time normal 60 time vip 120 time moderator 180 time c0 1440 time sysop 1440 Above are the default maximum time limits for each access class. A user's actual time limit may be less if a lower limit is specified by a command line or if the BBS passes a lower time limit in its DORINFO file. All time limits are in minutes. NoFossil If this keyword is enabled, TommCHAT will use its own internal comm driver, otherwise (when commented out, default) TommCHAT expects to use a FOSSIL. Port 1 03F8 4 Port 2 02F8 3 Port 3 03E8 4 Port 4 02E8 3 Port 5 0000 0 Port 6 0000 0 Port 7 0000 0 Port 8 0000 0 The PORT keyword is ignored if you are using a FOSSIL, because serial port hardware parameters are set up in the FOSSIL driver instead. You can define COM1 thru COM8. The first parameter after PORT is the com port number (one-based!), followed by the hexadecimal port address, followed in turn by the IRQ. The defaults are given in the examples above. I do not recommend using COM5 through COM8 with these defaults, and you should check the hardware settings for COM3 and COM4 carefully before you use the above table as-is. If you are not sure you understand the Port keyword, and your BBS and other doors seem to work fine without such arcane stuff, then leave this alone and it should also work fine. censor channel 1 25 censor channel 50 censor channel 255 The CENSOR CHANNEL directive tells TommCHAT to apply a censor to public messages on the specified channel. The list of bad words to censor is contained in CENSOR.CTL which should be located in the same directory TommCHAT executes from. CENSOR.CTL is just a plain ASCII file. On censored channels, these words are converted to equal-length series of dashes (e.g. "----" for the f-word or any other generic four letter word in CENSOR.CTL). NEW version 1.3 Feature - you can now specify a range of channels to censor, just by adding an additional parameter. In the example above, "censor channel 1 25" means that the censor will apply to channels 1 through 25 inclusive! censor handle The CENSOR HANDLE directive tells TommCHAT to apply the censor to /h handles. However, the handle censor uses additional words in CENSOR.CTL - so that you can add "SYSOP" and "ALL" and other important non-swearwords to the censor. See the CENSOR.CTL that comes with TommCHAT (warning - it already contains nasty words) for more on how to configure that file. censor private Don't use CENSOR PRIVATE. As soon as your users realize their private messages are being censored they will rightly leave your BBS for one less fascist. It is included for completeness only; if you use it I'm not sure I want to know you. CENSOR PRIVATE applies only on the channels defined by CENSOR CHANNEL. nolock 1 10 nolock 69 nolock 255 The NOLOCK keyword prohibits "locking" the specified channels. In the examples above, channels 1 through 10 are unlockable, as are channels 69 and 255. ┌────────────────────────┐ │ Custom Strings and TCL │ └────────────────────────┘ TommCHAT's appearance to the caller can be totally customized. You can change the colours, use special effects, or even re-write all of its text in a language other than English if you so desire! You have many embedded commands at your disposal within the language file; see the section on embedded commands for a complete list. The "language" file is TOMMCHAT.TXT. This contains a complete English definition of the chat door. You can modify a language file by first editing it with your favourite text editor, and then running the language file compiler TCL. The syntax of TOMMCHAT.TXT and the other language files is simple. There are only four commands, and they are indicated by enclosing them in square brackets [like this]. Here are the commands with examples: [languagefile english] The languagefile command decalres what language this file is for. This is used to update a system file which keeps track of available languages for TommCHAT's internal use (this feature will be implemented in a future version, but the keyword is required nevertheless). [comment blah blah...] The comment command will cause the language file compiler to ignore everything up to the next closing square bracket. This allows you to comment your language file so you know where everything's supposed to be no matter how much you change it. [sysmsg 1] The SysMsg command indicates the beginning of a system message. SysMsgs are addressed internally by number. SysMsgs can contain embedded codes and can recursively call one another using these codes. There can be up to 1024 system messages totalling up to 32767 bytes. If your TOMMCHAT.LNG file gets larger than 32767 bytes some of your system messages may be cut off! [end] The End command indicates the end of a system message. Everything between the [sysmsg] keyword and [end] is displayed as a system message. For further examples, please refer to TOMMCHAT.TXT itself. To compile a language file so that it can be used by TommCHAT, simply run TCL with the filename you want to compile. If you leave off the extension, an extension of .TXT will be assumed. Example: TCL TOMMCHAT This will compile the default languagefile TOMMCHAT.TXT. ┌─────────────────────┐ │ Actions and COMPACT │ └─────────────────────┘ Actions are one of the most popular features of advanced chat systems. Basically, actions let you (virtually) -do- things with other users. TommCHAT's SmartActions contain a library of actions which can be publicly or secretly, adjusting grammatically for the person you're sending to (this is why TommCHAT needs to know each user's sex). Generic Actions are nowhere near as advanced as SmartActions but they can be made to "do" just about anything. In this section we will concentrate on configuring SmartActions. SmartActions are defined in the file ACTIONS.CTL. In order for actions to be used, they must first be compiled with the COMPACT (COMPile ACTions) program. Just type COMPACT when you've finished making your changes to ACTIONS.CTL. There can be up to 256 actions from 0 to 255. Let's have a look at an example from the default ACTIONS.CTL: action 1 command wink access 10 see me You wink. see me2 You wink at ~r. see all ~s winks seductively! see all2 ~s winks seductively at ~r! see all3 ~s winks knowingly at everyone! see you ~s winks seductively at you~t! see noaccess Your eyelids seem to be stuck! end As you can see, each action is started with the keyword ACTION followed by the action number (0 to 255). The COMMAND keyword specifies the /a command necessary to invoke the action. In this case the command is "wink" so the user would type: /a wink ...to activate the command and wink at everyone. The "See" fields can be up to 80 characters including embedded ~ codes. SEE ME pertains to what you see when you perform your action for no recipient or for ALL. SEE ME2 pertains to what you see when you perform your action for a specific user. SEE ALL pertains to what everyone sees when the user types the command with no recipient. This may mean the action is done to all users, to nobody, or to the user himself. SEE ALL2 pertains to what everyone sees when the user types the command with a specific person as the recipient. For example: /a wink tommy ...would cause everyone to see: Joanie winks seductively at Tommy! ...except Tommy who would see: Joanie winks seductively at you! (see SEE YOU below). SEE ALL3 pertains to what everyone sees when ALL is the recipient. This means that the action is performed for everyone present. SEE YOU pertains to what the recipient of an action sees. See the SEE ALL2 example above. SEE NOACCESS is what the user sees if s/he tries to use an action they don't have access for. There are several ~ codes peculiar to intelligent actions (these only work within actions): ~r - Recipient's handle ~s - Sender's handle ~t - " secretly" if secret, nothing otherwise ~u - selected sender pronoun/noun ~U - selected recipient pronoun/noun ~v - rest of line after command Pronouns by number: If user is male/female: 1: he/she 2: his/her 3: his/hers 4: him/her 5: boy/girl 6: girl/boy 7: man/woman 8: woman/man 9: dude/babe These pronouns can also be specified by name if typed exactly as shown above. See ACTIONS.CTL for several live examples of the use of selected pronouns. Grammaticists: Yes, I know most of these are nouns - we hackers like to make certain assumptions to save time... ┌────────────────────────────┐ │ Embedded Command Reference │ └────────────────────────────┘ The following functions are available to users at most places in TommCHAT: ┌────────────────────────────┐ ┌───────────────┐ │ Foreground Colours │ │ Background │ │ │ │ │ │ ~A Black ~I Dk.Gray │ │ ~a Black │ │ ~B Red ~J Lt.Red │ │ ~b Red │ │ ~C Green ~K Lt.Green │ │ ~c Green │ │ ~D Brown ~L Yellow │ │ ~d Brown │ │ ~E Blue ~M Lt.Blue │ │ ~e Blue │ │ ~F Magenta ~N Lt.Magenta │ │ ~f Magenta │ │ ~G Cyan ~O Lt.Cyan │ │ ~g Cyan │ │ ~H Lt.Gray ~P White │ │ ~h Lt.Gray │ └────────────────────────────┘ └───────────────┘ ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Special ANSi functions and effects: │ │ │ │ ~1 Clear to End of Line │ │ ~6 Blink On │ │ ~7 Clear Attributes │ │ │ │ Embedded CR/LF: ~/ │ │ Nondestructive clear to beginning: ~\ │ │ Destructive clear to beginning: ~| │ │ │ │ Fade-in: ~< Start ~> End │ │ 3D : ~( Start ~) End │ │ Prompt : ~■ (on PCs, hold Alt-254) │ │ │ │ Tab : ~tnn where nn is column │ │ │ │ e.g. ~t45 │ │ │ │ This example would move the cursor to │ │ column 45, or do nothing if the cursor │ │ is already at or past that column. │ │ │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Examples of the above colour codes and effects are shown in the /i5 message that comes with TommCHAT. Simply go into TommCHAT as a user and type /i5 to view all of the above in action. The following embedded commands are available only in system messages specified in the language file (i.e. TOMMCHAT.TXT): ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ ~# Send a ^G beep out the modem │ │ (sysop is spared the beep) │ │ │ │ ~< Send a carriage return *only* │ │ │ │ ~; Auto three-column wrap, depending on cursor │ │ position. Play with it to get an idea. │ │ │ │ ~> Auto two-column wrap, similar to above. │ │ │ │ ~$ Version number of TommCHAT. │ │ │ │ ~R A "Hit Any Key" prompt │ │ │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ┌─┐ ┌─┐ │ │ │ │ User and VIP Functions │ │ │ │ In Detail │ └──┘ └┐ └────┐ ┌┘ └─┘ The most important key for users, VIPs and co-sysops is the forward slash key "/". All commands are preceded by the slash, and all are illustrated in this manual with the slash and command as they should be typed. ┌─────────────┐ │ Public Chat │ └─────────────┘ Public "Chat" is the most basic function offered by TommCHAT. Anything you type that is not preceded by the slash ("/") character is presumed by TommCHAT to be a public statement. For example, if you were to simply type: Hello There. Everyone on your channel would see "Hello There." along with your handle and node number. ┌──────────────────┐ │ Private Messages │ └──────────────────┘ Often it is desirable for users to carry on private conversations without leaving public channels. This can be accomplished by using the /p command. For example, if there is a user on line 12, and you wanted to privately say "Hi, Chuck!" to that user, you would type: /p12 Hi, Chuck! That user would see your message, along with your handle and node number, and would be informed that it is a private message. If there is no-one on the node you specify, TommCHAT will inform you of this fact. ┌───────────────────┐ │ Changing Channels │ └───────────────────┘ /t - Change "Channel" - TommCHAT supports 256 "channels" so that separate discussions can be carried out without interference or confusion with other conversations. Include the channel number you want to change to, example: /t42 ... this will take you to channel 42. Only other users on channel 42 will be able to see what you publicly type. By default, you start out on Channel 1. ┌─────────────────┐ │ Generic Actions │ └─────────────────┘ /ga- "Generic Action" - crudely mimics a popular feature of other chat systems. This command causes the system to make a third-party statement about you. Here is an example: /ga is laughing his fool head off! This might cause the following to be displayed to everyone on your channel: Waffle is laughing his fool head off! ┌───────────────┐ │ Smart Actions │ └───────────────┘ Here is a list of default available actions: agree back bark bearhug beer beg belch bite blush bonk bow brb cheer chill chuckle claw comfort cough crotchkick cry curtsy dance demand duck duh embrace evilgrin faint fallinlove fart finger flash flirt french frown gasp glare grin groan gross handshake hi5 hurl impure innocent kick kickass kill kiss laugh lick lie loogy look love lust meow moan moo moon naked niceass nod puke punch purr re rip rose scream secret shrug sing smack smirk smoke smooch snicker socks spank streak strip thank think toke tongue trudeau ttyl wave wink woof yawn zzz /a Invoke an action. You can invoke actions with no parameters, or you can specify a user (by name or node) you wish to perform the action on, or you can specify ALL to do it to everyone on your channel! You can also do an action to a user secretly! Exemplia: /a hug Tommy This might produce the following output for all users: Cuddlez hugs Tommy close! ...except for the recipient who sees... Cuddlez hugs you close! /a tickle Cuddlez secretly This would not produce a message for anyone except the recipient and the sender. The recipient would see something like this: Tommy is secretly tickling you silly! /a bonk all ...this might produce something like... Tommy is bonking everyone over the head! *** NOTE: Beginning with version 1.07, you no longer need to type /a to invoke a SmartAction. Example: /hug tommy now does the same as /a hug tommy SmartActions might use personal pronouns like He or She - these are automatically inserted correctly for the sending and receiving party's gender! If you would like to experiment with SmartActions, try performing them on yourself or in public on an empty channel, so as not to clutter busy channels... Type /al for a list of actions. NOTE: the /AL actions list does nothing more than display a file called ACTION.LST which is a flat ASCII list of actions. If you change an action's command, or if you add or delete actions, you need to also change ACTION.LST so that users are apprised of the changes. ┌────────────┐ │ Squelching │ └────────────┘ /x - "Squelch" - Disallows /p messages from a user. To sqelch someone type /x followed by their node number, e.g. /x2 This will stop whomever is on node 2 from sending you /p messages. To allow a user to /p again, or "unsquelch", simply repeat the command, e.g. /x2 a second time will unsquelch node 2. /xa- "Squelch All" - Disallows /p messages from all users! This will actually squelch everyone who is on at the time, however if someone logs off and comes back, they will be able to /p you again. You can unsquelch everyone by typing /xa again, and you can selectively unsquelch certain users using the above /x command. ┌─────────────────┐ │ System Messages │ └─────────────────┘ /mxxx This displays one of the system messages which are automatically displayed from time to time. xxx can be any combination of 1 to 7 alphanumeric characters. This is called the "slot name" of the message. It corresponds to a textfile on disk. If a message is displayed as /ma, its filename is MA.TCH. Example: /ma will display the /ma message (if present). Users can be assigned message slots online using the co-sys0p command /ka (see the "Sysop and Co-Sys0p Functions" section of this manual). A user who has been assigned a slot may edit its contents by typing /m+ xxx ... where xxx is the slot name. If the user specifies the wrong slot name an error is reported. Once this command is accepted, the user then sends up to 16k of ASCII or ANSI text terminated by ^Z (ASCII 26). When the system receives the ^Z the message is saved. It can then be seen by typing /mxxx (xxx being the name) and will appear automatically during the random /m messages. There is a special kind of system message called an information file. This is exactly the same as a /m message except that it cannot be assigned to a user. It is accessed by typing /ixxx ...where xxx is the name, similar to /m messages. /i messages are used for static information about the chat system, e.g. its rules, its technical information, etc. /m messages are normally displayed at random during regular intervals, defined by the SysOp. Users can turn these automatic messages off by typing: /m- ┌────────────┐ │ Tele-Trial │ └────────────┘ /tt nnn A TeleTrial is a quick-and-dirty vote taken by ordinary users to have an annoying user ejected from the system, where nnn is the node number of the user to be booted. Once enough votes are cast, the user is history. Only one vote per user. ┌──────────────────┐ │ Private Channels │ └──────────────────┘ A new feature for version 1.3 is the "Private" or "locked" channel. In this, a user can go to another channel, "lock" it, and then only users she invites to the channel will be able to go to that channel. All others get a message stating that the channel is locked. There are four basic commands. /lock This simply locks the channel that the user is on. There are limits to this, of course. See "NoLock" in the config file and earlier in this document. /unlock This unlocks, or frees up for public use, the channel that the user is on. Note that TommCHAT keeps track of who locked the channel, so only a sysop or the user herself who locked the channel can use /unlock. /invite This invites a user to the channel. You can specify a username or a node, e.g. /invite tommy or /invite 1. If nothing is specified, TommCHAT will supply a list of users and ask which one to invite. /eject This kicks a user out of the channel. ┌─────────────────────────┐ │ Miscellaneous Functions │ └─────────────────────────┘ /? - This command displays the user help file, with a concise explanation of each command. /q - "Quit": This command exits TommCHAT and returns the caller to the BBS. You can do the same by typing q or x by itself on a line without a slash. This is to make the system a little more comfortable for users accustomed to chatting on Galacticomm's MajorBBS<tm>. /s - "Status": This command displays a brief summary of all users who are using TommCHAT. It displays the channel number, node number, and handle of each user as well as indicating which nodes are squelched or muted, and which ones have the caller squelched. You can also do the same by typing "who" (without the quotes) by itself on a line. /sm - "Show Members": This command displays a list of all users in TommCHAT's user database. /h - "Handle": This allows the caller to change his/her handle. It can be changed for the current call only, or saved permanently in the user database, if the caller chooses. Users may include embedded colour codes in handles. /u1 - "Hello Message": This allows the caller to change the message displayed by the system when s/he logs on. It may contain embedded characters and can be up to 96 characters in length. If no string follows, the message is replaced with the default message defined by the sysop. /u2 - "Goodbye Message": This allows the caller to change the message displayed by the system when s/he logs off. Like the "Hello" message it can contain up to 96 characters. ┌───────┐ │ ┌─────┘ SysOp and "c0" (Co-SysOp) │ └─────┐ Functions └─────┐ │ ┌─────┘ │ └───────┘ There are 6 access classes in TommCHAT: Sys0p (highest) Co-Sys0p Moderator VIP Normal m0e (lowest) ┌────────────────────┐ │ Moderator commands │ └────────────────────┘ /k? Display a command list for moderators, c0-sys0ps, and sys0ps. /kx nnn Eject user on node nnn - This will inform the user in question that s/he's being tossed, and will then exit the chat door. /kj nnn Jail user on node nnn - This will prevent the user from changing to another channel /km nnn Mute user on node nnn - This will cause the user's task to ignore any public messages, private messages, or actions s/he may attempt. ┌───────────────────┐ │ Co-Sys0p commands │ └───────────────────┘ (Note: Co-Sys0ps also have access to moderator commands) /k+ nnn Promote user on node nnn - This temporarily increases the user's access level to the next class. M0es are made normal, normals VIP, and VIPs moderators. The maximum level allowed by this command is Moderator. /k- nnn Demote user on node nnn - This has the opposite effect of /k+. Other c0-sys0ps (and sys0ps) are unaffected by this command. /ky nnn Rudely eject user on node nnn - This is very similar to /kx, but it will simply hang up on the user without an explanatory message of any sort. /ka nnn yyy Set /m slot for user on node nnn - This will assign a message slot to the user on nnn, where yyy is the message name. yyy can be from 1 to 7 alphanumeric characters in length. This assignment is saved in the user's userbase record and is the only field editable by non-Sys0p c0's. /ka nnn Revoke /m slot for user on node nnn /ka with no slot name will render the user unable to modify any /m slot! /kd nnn De-stat user on node nnn This is a somewhat technical command which should be used when, for whatever reason, a user leaves chat but still shows up in the /s list. That non-user could continue receiving messages from other nodes until the IPC drive fills, which would cause problems for the whole system, therefore c0's may forestall such problems with this command. It will also delete any dead IPCs which have accumulated for the user. /kh nnn <handle> Temporarily change handle of user on node nnn to <handle>. This is useful when a user chooses an unacceptable handle. /kt nnn ttt Temporarily change user's channel to channel ttt (where ttt is a valid channel from 1 to 255). You can keep the user there by "Jailing" him/her. ┌────────────────┐ │ Sys0p commands │ └────────────────┘ (Note: Sys0ps have access to ALL system functions including moderator and co-sys0p functions) /k* nnn Temporarily grant/revoke Co-sys0p access for node nnn. When access is revoked the user's access returns to the access level the user logged in with. /kb nnn "Bar" a user on node nnn and eject. This is identical to /ky except that prior to hanging up on the user, the system will add the user's BBS name to a "barred" file or blacklist will then prevent the user from using the door again until the name is removed from the blacklist. The blacklist is a simple textfile which can be edited in any text editor (you may add, remove, or modify names this way) with the filename TOMMCHAT.BAR. /ke uuu Edit user record for user number uuu uuu is a user record number, not a node number! You can edit any user this way, regardless of whether s/he is online at the time. If the user is online, the changes you make will apply to them immediately! To find a user's user number, the user command /sm will display the user number of each user. /kz uuu Zap (delete, nuke, fry, toast, kill, burn, terminate with extreme prejudice, etc) a user's TommCHAT record. You will be shown the user's relevant details and asked twice if you want to do this. Do a /sm to get the number of the user you want to nuke. /ks System Status. This will display the number of callers online, the number of bytes free on the IPC and system drives, the size of available memory, the number of /m messages available, and the total number of users in the userbase. ┌───────┐ │ ┌─────┘ Licence Notice │ └─────┐ and │ ┌───┐ │ ShareWare Registration │ └───┘ │ └───────┘ TommCHAT is not free software. Sorry, people, I'd love to be a freeware philanthropist with this one, but I have bills to pay and a very large investment of time and effort in this program. That said, however, I am all too familiar with the starving-sysop syndrome, having been there myself at many points in my life. I believe in the shareware concept and in reasonably-priced software for those who need a break most, and I think I have come up with the best and fairest possible pricing for both you and me. If you and your users enjoy this program, and if you believe in the shareware concept, please consider registering this software. If your users use this program a lot, it would not be inappropriate for you to ask them to chip in a few bucks each towards registering it on your behalf. This is called "adopting" a door and can save you a lot of money on doors as well as giving users a feeling that they have a participatory stake in your BBS - a solid reason to keep calling! The unregistered TommCHAT has a limit of 6 nodes at a time and 10 minutes per session. Registration removes these limitations. Besides, having registered doors instead of an ocean of "UNREGISTERED EVALUATION COPY" messages gives you a moral advantage over other sysops, making users feel better about calling your BBS. With registration you get the latest version on disk, and a software licence "key" which lets you run your existing TommCHAT setup under licence. Not to mention a much easier time getting technical support... I have written the shareware licence below to be as fair and straightforward as possible. Do what you think is right. -=( T )=- Gerald T. "Tommy" Albion Author, TommCHAT (not to be confused with the space-alien tommy) I have simplified the TommCHAT rate structure. It is still more expensive for large licences than small, but overall I think this pricing is much fairer and more aggressive than what was asked for verson 1.00. This would be a good time to register, as I cannot guarantee that future versions will be this low priced! By registering now, your licence key lets you run future versions which might cost more if you wait! General Site Licence: $25 US or $30 Cdn Please add $3 U.S. or $4 Can. for shipping. Orders outside the U.S. and Canada please add $5 U.S. for shipping (the post office REALLY pounds me hard on overseas shipping!) Registered TommCHAT Order Form Your Name:______________________________________________ Address:________________________________________________ City, State/Prov:_______________________________________ Country, Postal Code:___________________________________ BBS Name:_______________________________________________ BBS Phone Number:_______________________________________ Total number of nodes _____________ General Site Licence ($25US or 30Cdn) $____________ If you would like a quality hardcopy of the manual, please add $3 U.S. or $4 Cdn $____________ Canadian Residents please add 7% GST $_________Cdn (GST #R137571808) British Columbia Residents add 7% PST $_________Cdn ($3 U.S. or $4 Cdn) Please add appropriate Shipping $_________ __ __ Total Enclosed: $_______________ |__|U.S. |__|Cdn Please check here if you are __ "adopting" this product for your SysOp: |__| Paying with your Visa Card? Please supply the following information: Visa Card #:________________________________________ Expiry Date:________________________________________ Cardholder Name:____________________________________ Please remit by Canadian Cheque drawn on Canadian Bank, U.S. cheque drawn on U.S. bank, Canadian or U.S. postal money order, U.S. or Canadian bank money order, or international money order. I cannot advise sending cash through ye poste... OR, you may pay by Visa. You can register on-line by calling THC BBS at 250-361-4549. Simply log on, go through the new-user stuff, and when you get to the main menu, hit the $ key and you will be given a Visa Registration menu. Pick TommCHAT and follow the bouncing ball... You may also pay by Visa by e-mail, simply fill out the above form electronically, and e-mail to: Tommy@tommys.spydernet.com The electronic Visa payment options will allow your TommCHAT key to be created and shipped the very same day and may take weeks off the delivery time! I can't accept money orders issued by Money Mart. They're just too big a bummer to cash at my bank =( . Make cheques payable to "Whirlwind Software." Please send your registrations to: Whirlwind Software P.O. Box 5874 Victoria, B.C. Canada V8R 6S8 Please allow 4 weeks for delivery, longer if paying by U.S. Cheque. THANK YOU FOR REGISTERING THIS PROGRAM. ┌─────────────────[ BUG REPORT FORM ]─────────────────┐ │ │ │ TommCHAT has been extensively alpha-tested on the author's │ │ system. However, differing system configurations can │ │ result in unexpected problems. If you encounter any │ │ consistent errors or other bugs, please use this form to │ │ report them to the author for correction. │ │ │ │ Version of TommCHAT _____________________________________ │ │ │ │ BBS Software___________________________________Ver.______ │ │ │ │ FOSSIL Driver used_____________________________Ver.______ │ │ │ │ Is this problem consistent or intermittent?______________ │ │ │ │ Description of Problem___________________________________ │ │ │ │ _________________________________________________________ │ │ │ │ _________________________________________________________ │ │ │ │ _________________________________________________________ │ │ │ │ _________________________________________________________ │ │ │ │ If running a LAN or multi-tasker, please describe________ │ │ │ │ _________________________________________________________ │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ┌────────────────────────┐ │ Shareware Licence: └───────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ You are licenced to operate up to six(6) copies of this │ │ program on one machine or LAN for the purpose of │ │ evaluating its suitability for your purposes. You are │ │ licenced to evaulate this program for up to thirty(30) │ │ days. After this evaulation period has elapsed, you │ │ must either register the program or discontinue its use │ │ until it is registered. │ │ │ │ Gerald T. Albion, d.b.a. Whirlwind Software, offers no │ │ warranties whatsoever, expressed nor implied, on this │ │ product. In no event shall Gerald T. Albion's liability │ │ exceed the purchase price of this product. │ │ │ │ By running this software you assume ALL responsibility │ │ for any damage to data or hardware as a result of │ │ the improper use of this program. Gerald T. Albion │ │ specifically disclaims liability for damage to hard │ │ drives if the software is at any time executed without │ │ defining the IPC (Inter Process Communications) drive to │ │ be a RAM disk. │ │ │ │ By executing the program you indicate your acceptance │ │ of these terms. │ │ │ │ CD-ROM publishers and BBS SysOps may distribute this │ │ shareware archive freely so long as it is distributed │ │ with all files intact and with no modifications, ZIP │ │ comments, archive envelope changes, BBS ads, or any │ │ other modification whatsoever. │ │ │ │ By placing the archive on your BBS, FTP site or CD-ROM │ │ you indicate your acceptance of this condition. │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Questions, comments, bug reports and feature requests can be left to me on my BBS: Tommy's Holiday Camp BBS (24 hours) (250) 361-4549 (300-33600 bps USR V.34+) (250) 380-6467 (300-28800 bps Hayes V.FC) (250) 360-0628 (300-14400 bps V.32bis) Or on: Crazy Train ][ BBS (250) 383-2201 (28800 V.34) Internet: email tommy@tommys.spydernet.com WWW http://vvv.com/~tommy/wsoft.html Fidonet : 1:340/26 AdultLinks 69:3601/26 Latest versions of TommCHAT and all other Whirlwind doors are also available on THC BBS, and are file requestable from THC at 1:340/26 (Fidonet). File Request the "magic" filename TOMMCHAT for a copy of the current version of TommCHAT. File Request FILES for a complete list of requestable doors and other goodies... Whirlwind Software acknowledges ownership of all trademarks mentioned herein by their respective owners. ***************************************************************** ** ** ** Sorry, no voice support can be offered on unregistered ** ** copies. I am better able to address software problems via ** ** email anyway. ** ** ** ***************************************************************** ▀█▄ ▀█▄ ▀█▄ ▀█▄ ▀█▄ ▀███▀▀█▄ ▀█▄ ▀█▄ ▀█▄ ▀█▄ ▀██▄ ▀█▄ ▀██▀▀█▄ ██ ▄██ ▄██ ▐██▄▄▐██ ▐██ ▐██ ▄██ ▐██ ██ ▄██ ▄██ ▐██ ▐████▄▐██ ▐██ ▐██ ████████▀ ██▌▀▀██▌ ██▌ ██▀███▀ ██▌ ████████▀ ██▌ ██▌ ▀███▌ ██▌ ██ ▄██▀ ██▀ ▐██ ▐██ ▐██ ▐█▌ ▀██▄ ▐██▄▄▄▄ ▄██▀ ██▀ ▐██ ▐██ ▐██ ▐██▄▄▄██▀ This is another fine software product of Whirlwind Software, Victoria, B.C. ______ ..m############m.. Looking for something to read? m" """ "## ####m m##m "#" ######m Call the greatest Text File BBS .####".m#### #######. in the world! m#############. .#m########m |############### ############| Tommy's Holiday Camp BBS ################m |############# |##################. m## ##############| Victoria, B.C., Canada |###################m ##################| 12 Gigabytes Online - 3 Lines |#####################mm"" """#########| 35,000 Text Files ######################## "###### |#######################| |####| Free Trial Access available! "#######################m #####" `####################### .m######' (250) 361-4549 [300-28800 V.34] "#################### ######" (250) 360-0628 [300-14400 V.32b] "################l ####" ""==########=="" "Reach For The Edges Of Your Mind"