Possibilities - Realities 7/90

Contact:   eSoft, Inc. (Makers of TBBS)
           15200 E. Girard Ave., Suite 3000
           Aurora, CO  80014
           (303) 699-6565      Voice
           (303) 699-6872      Fax
           (303) 699-8222      BBS
           support@esoft.com   E-Mail

REALITIES 7/90
--------------

*** From July 1990 Possibilities Newsletter ***
*** Copyright 1990 by eSoft, Inc.  All Rights Reserved ***

REALITIES...how to make it work
by eSoft Technical Support Staff

From the moment you first install TBBS, it's easy to see the possibilities are 
almost endless.  Turning those possibilities into realities can bring up 
questions.  For this reason, quality customer support is at least half the 
overall value of any software package.

We recommend you call the eSoft Support BBS (303-699-8222) and read through 
the messages in each of the various support areas.  You could find answers to 
your questions, even before you've asked them!  You'll definitely get some 
useful tips and ideas for bringing possibilities to life with tbbs.  In this 
section of the newsletter, we will answer some of the more commonly asked 
questions we receive. 

It's Only A Minute...

Q. External Events allow tbbs system designers to automate routine system 
maintenance chores.  Unfortunately, programs that take less than one minute to 
complete their tasks will recycle themselves as many times as possible during 
the actual minute that they're invoked via an external event.  How can this be 
avoided? 

A. One way to avoid this problem is to utilize a DOS utility such as WAIT or 
WAITN.  These programs allow you to "idle" your system for the number of 
seconds that you specify.  WAITN.ARC can be downloaded from the MS-DOS 
DOWNLOADS section of the eSoft Support BBS.  With this program, for example, 
simply add the line, "WAIT 60," at the end of any batch file called by an
external event.  This will make your computer wait a full 60 seconds after 
completing its given task.  The one minute wait will make sure the external 
event task won't be completed in less than a minute, so it won't be 
inadvertently repeated. 

If you object to having your computer sitting around even one minute without 
doing something productive, there is another solution to the problem.  Just 
give your computer something else to do as part of each external event that 
might take less than one minute to complete.  Make sure the additional task 
takes at least one minute, and you'll prevent brief external event tasks from 
repeating themselves.  You could, for example, have your system copy your 
message base to another drive for backup purposes,  run a disk optimizing 
program that removes deleted files and squeezes your hard disk directories, or 
any other quick routine maintenance task that needs to be done on a regular 
basis. 

Colorizing TBBS...

Q. How do I add ANSI color and IBM graphics to my menus and text files? 

A. We are often asked which is best way to add color and graphics to a file 
for display on tbbs.  The best way is to insert ANSI color sequences directly 
into the menus and files you wish to display in color.  If you wish, you can 
enter the ANSI control codes directly into the files with a good text editor 
that creates ASCII files.  A full list of ANSI codes is available in many DOS 
reference manuals, and at the end of the OVERVIEW section of the tbbs manual. 

We recommend that you use the tbbs SDL language to directly add color commands 
to your menu files.  You can find complete details on using SDL in the tbbs 
manual.  The trick is to generally steer clear of cursor positioning codes.  
This will allow your menus to automatically strip to non-ANSI display (for 
callers without ANSI compatibility) without much trouble.  It will still take 
a little experimentation, even with SDL, to create color menus that will look 
good in both modes, but the results can be well worth the effort. 

You can also use ANSI editor programs, such as TheDraw or ANSIDraw, to create 
a color screen for display on tbbs, but these programs work best when they're 
used to create pretty pictures for your users to look at online -- not menus. 
To do this, associate the ANSI text files you've created as Type 1 files in 
SDL, and they'll then display to your users when selected from a menu. 

If you use an ANSI editor program to create your color tbbs menus, you must 
take extra precautions if you are to succeed.  TheDraw, for example, will do 
the job, but you have to make sure you go in and manually insert a KEY=? 
"dead" menu ENTRY: after the end of each 1024 characters. 

You also must remember that most ANSI editors generate a "clear-screen-to-
color" sequence (a ^[2J with color), but many communications software packages 
your callers will be using don't interpret this code correctly.  The result is 
that the user's screen is cleared to black instead of the chosen background 
color.   For this reason, you have to be VERY careful about assuming that what 
you see on your screen while creating your menu is what your users will see 
when they log on.  Primarily, this is due to the fact that most ANSI editor 
programs generate ANSI 3.x codes while most telecommunications programs 
support either  ANSI 2.x or an incomplete 3.x set. 

One solution to this problem is to paint the entire screen (including the dead 
areas), but this will add a great deal of delay when your users access your 
system.  Another solution is to design all of your menus with smaller 
background boxes, on a black field.  This isn't as pretty, but it's a much 
surer way to avoid display errors with less effort. 

As you can see, ANSI drawing programs make the creation of fancy color screens 
and menus a bit easier, but they add a lot of work and potential problems to 
the process.  This is why all of the the ANSI menus we created for the eSoft 
Support BBS were created by hand, actually inserting ANSI codes manually with 
a text editor, using SDL to create the menus then compiling them.  It's a 
laborious process, but is more sure-footed.  Our menu SDL source is available 
from the Support BBS download area so you can use it as an example. 

Making Sure Mods Really Modify...

Q. Sometimes it seems that when I install Mods, they don't actually "take". 
Why not? 

A. Mods are actually tiny pieces of assembly programming code that you can 
automatically apply to your existing tbbs programs by running the DEBUG.COM 
DOS utility program. 

If you apply the Mods according to the instructions, but don't seem to see any 
change in the program code or system's operation as a result (or see errors 
during the Mod), the problem is usually one of the following: 

If you try installing a Mod while you have any TSR (Terminate and Stay 
Resident) programs loaded into your computer's memory, the TSR program could 
cause a conflict that would keep the Mod from applying itself.  This is 
especially true with DOS command line editing TSRs such as CED or DOSEDIT. 

A problem can also occur if you try to install a Mod using a copy of DEBUG.COM 
from a DOS version other than the one you are running. 

To make sure that Mods all update your tbbs software correctly, make sure any 
TSR programs have been removed from memory and verify that your copy of 
DEBUG.COM matches the version of DOS you're running.  After you have applied 
your Mods, you can restore any TSR programs which you have verified do not 
affect the normal operation of tbbs. 

It's A Matter of Time...

Q. How can I limit user time in a single menu, but allow access to the rest of 
the system normally? 

A. The answer to this (and related) requirements lies in the use of the tbbs 
Billing Class features. 

Assign the menu(s) you wish to restrict a billing class other than "0."  Set 
the user's time limit in that billing class as you want and, when it expires, 
he won't be allowed into the menu.  Be sure that the "Billing Class Change" 
flags in CEDIT are all set to dashes (no change wanted) to obtain this mode of 
operation. 

With this mode of operation, users will be denied access to selected menus 
when their predetermined time limit runs out, and will be automatically 
expelled from these menus even if their time runs out while they are IN them.  
You can place a message to be displayed when their limit expires in the file 
NOCLASSx.TXT where x is the billing class you used. 

- END -
PS0790-3
Rev. 7/90

Copyright (C) 1994 eSoft, Inc., All Rights Reserved.  Permission granted
to distribute this file in its entirety, without modification, to any
interested party.  Any other use requires the written permission of
eSoft, Inc.

IMPORTANT:  The information herein is subject to change without notice.
Please call or write to confirm factual information of importance to you
or your organization.

